TMNT: THE MOVIE 2012 Version
by Sesshomarusama3
Summary: When the City of New York is in peril, four unlikely heroes will rise to the surface to protect it. Follow Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo as they and their human friends, April O'Neil and the masked vigilante Casey Jones fight against the evil Shredder and his vast army of Foot Ninjas. (Based off 1990's movie I OWN NOTHING)
1. Chapter 1: Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

**Chapter 1: Wrong Place at the Wrong Time**

_"This is Carlos Chang O'Brien Gambe, reporting to live on Channel Six News. More reports of disturbances and theft in our fair city. I will now hand you over to our young interviewee volunteer, Miss April O'Neil, who will tell us her side of the subject. Miss O'Neil, please tell us your thoughts on the matter."_

The reporter passed the microphone over to a young teenage girl, who appeared to be no older than sixteen. Her hair was a dark auburn colour, she had a few freckles dotted across her rosy cheeks, and had light azure eyes. Her wardrobe consisted of mainly yellow apart from her dark blue shorts, black leggings and dark brown boots.

She was nervous, but of course who wouldn't be, knowing they were on live T.V for the first time ever? But this is what she always wanted, wasn't it? To one day be a professional reporter herself. She had volunteered to be interviewed that day by Carlos Chang O'Brien himself! This was her chance to prove herself, how could she refuse?

She took in a deep breath and took the microphone from the reporter. She squared her shoulders; she could do this.

_"Well, Mr O'Brien, these are obviously much more than just a series of small, isolated incidents. It's apparent that an organized criminal element is at work, and at the moment, business is good. So good, in fact, there appear to be no eyewitnesses to any of these crimes. With complaints ranging from purse-snatching to breaking and entering, police switchboards have been swamped with the angry voices of more and more citizens, who have fallen prey to the recent surge of crime that continues to plague the city._

"_Instead of getting better, things have gotten worse. Even more alarming is the baffling and often bizarre nature of these crimes. From my research, I've found that merchandize of every size and description, from phones and televisions, any many other electronic appliances have been disappearing from store shelves and storage areas at an alarming rate. Even the victims themselves rarely glimpse the thieves. Sometimes people don't even know they've been robbed until it's too late. In fact, it seems that police don't even have any eyewitnesses yet; only a few reports of young boys or teenagers to the scenes have been filed._

_"But whoever is behind these crimes, one thing is certain; these are much more than just a series of random incidents."_

_"So who do you think we should rely on for help, Miss O'Neil?"_

_"Who are we gonna call? Unfortunately, the police are the only ones available to help fight off what people are now calling 'The Silent Crime Wave'. But maybe the most disturbing silence is that coming from City Hall. This is April O'Neil on channel Six News"_

The reporter smiled at her confidence before turning back to the camera.

_"This is April O'Neil and Carlos Chang O'Brien Gambe saying, stay tuned for more Eyewitness News."_

* * *

April walked home that night, feeling better than she had in all her sixteen years on this earth. Not only had she had the chance to b on live television and be interviewed by Mr O'Brien, and had the chance to feel like a real news reporter AND had been praised by him by her impressive research and reporting skills **AND** even offered her a job at the studio…but she had also made her father proud.

She had received countless text messages that day from him, telling her how he watched her on the T.V, how brilliant she was, how fearless she looked…and how he loved her so much, and how proud he was to call her his daughter.

Her mother would be proud too.

April quickened her pace. She couldn't wait to get home and see his smiling face and tell him more about it.

She heard a squeak from behind her. She turned sharply and squeaked herself when she saw that rat skitter across the floor and ran past her as if it had not seen her at all. April let out a breath. She did not hate rats; in fact she rather liked them. It simply surprised her.

April continued down the dark streets to her Aunt's apartment, where she and her father were staying for a while until they could officially buy their new house in a few weeks. She loved staying at her aunts place, for she lived just above an antique store. She used to play or 'investigate' the objects down there when she was little. That place held dear memories for her and her family.

She heard a shuffling noise behind a large white van parked near a fence to someone's small back garden. Her curiosity took over her and she went to investigate. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a group of teenage boys, probably around eighteen or older, hauling various objects from flash lights to assortments of wires and other electrical appliances they could find, and throwing them hastily inside the van. One of them spotted her and gasped sharply. The other quickly turned around and saw her too. A tall blonde one with a strange look in his eye casually approached her.

"Bad timing" he said, a small grin forming on his face, revealing dirty yellow teeth. April took a few steps backwards.

"You're telling me" she replied, swallowing nervously and prepared herself to run.

The yellow toothed guy smirked and shoved his hands in his pockets smugly. "You're that chick who was on T.V. Heh, you're even more prettier in person…I could use some fun right about now."

Her eyes widened. He wouldn't…he couldn't.

But she realized as he took another step towards her reaching for what looked like a knife in his pocket, he could.

And if she didn't get out of there, he would.

She turned and bolted down the streets, running as fast as her legs would allow her to with the street boys in hot pursuit. She could hear them chanting 'grab her purse! Get her!' as she ran. However, one of them managed to grab her and pull her down to the ground and hold her down, despite her intense struggles.

"Hey! Stop! Let me go! What do you think you're – HELP!" she cried desperately as she struggled beneath their grip, but one managed to slap a hand over her mouth, muffling her pleas.

This was it. What had started as the best day of her life, had now taken a turn for the worst.

Suddenly, the lamppost light above shattered, and all was suddenly dark.

"What the hell is this?" one of the boys cried.

April felt the weight of the boys being ripped off her and her mouth being freed as she heard a flurry of movement around her, punches being thrown and grunts and cries of pain echoing in the darkness.

"Far out, dudes!" she heard someone cry in triumph before all went silent once again.

It was in that moment where the police arrived, shining their torch lights on the scene and appeared as baffled as the young frightened girl sat on the ground; the boys who had pinned her down were now tied up and badly bruised, groaning in pain and some of them mumbling about giant men in hard suits. April looked around, but saw no one else but the police and the scum bags that had tried to rob and even violate her.

"You alright ma'am?" one of the police men asked, placing a gentle reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah…I'm fine…" she replied shakily, still unable to grasp what happened. The police man told her to stay there a moment whilst they gather up the punks, so she took that time to take one last look around her to see if there was any sign of her saviours.

Suddenly, something caught her eye; a long, sharp object lying on the ground near a manhole cover. From what she could remember from her studies in Japanese weaponry in History class, it appeared to be a Sai. She knew those boys had no other weapons besides knives, so this must have come from one of her saviours.

Making sure the police were not looking, she slid over to the weapon and quickly stuffed it in her bag; if she ever got the chance to find the ones who saved her life that night, she would give it back.

However, unbeknownst to her and the policemen, the owner of the weapon was cautiously peering out from underneath the manhole cover, and had seen her take it and stuff it in her bag.

"Damn" he cursed, before slipping back under the metal lid, and returning to the sewers below.


	2. Chapter 2: Enter the Turtles

Chapter 2: Enter the Turtles

Down in the literal underbelly of New York City, four large, shadowy figures were celebrating their first victory that night as they made their way swiftly through the sewers, shouting and laughing out loud jubilantly. If, goodness knows why, one were down there and heard these shouts, they would simply think they came from a couple of teenagers. They would be half right in their assumption, however, these were no ordinary teenagers. In fact, they were not even human.

These shouts and cries of victory came from four teenage mutant turtles.

"Awesome!" one cried proudly, punching his three fingered fist in the air in triumph. The turtle was armed with two katana blades sheathed on the back of his shell in a belt which he wore with two straps over his right shoulder. He had green scaly skin and wore a blue mask over his dark blue eyes. His name was Leonardo, but his three brothers called him Leo.

Another turtle, this one slightly smaller and younger than his older brother and wearing an orange mask and armed with two nunchaku in his belt, jumped from behind the blue clad turtle and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. His name was Michelangelo, also known as Mikey. "Yes dudes and dude-ettes! Major league butt-kicking is back in town!" he yelled in delight, his baby blue eyes wide with excitement and wearing a large grin on his green, freckled face. "Righteous!"

"Bossa-nova!" a third turtle cried out. The other two turned and stared at the third turtle in puzzlement. He was armed with a long wooden Bo staff, which was sheathed on his shell attached to a belt that came over his right shoulder with a golden, but worn buckle. He was the second youngest, but was the tallest and leanest of his brothers. His name was Donatello or Donnie to his brothers. He wore a dark purple mask and had a gap tooth, which showed as he smiled nervously at his brothers who were looking at him strangely.

"Bossa nova? Really, Donnie?" Mikey asked sceptically.

"Umm, Chevy-nova?" Donatello tried again, only earning a shake of the head from both turtles. "Umm…Excellent!"

"Excellent!" the others cried also, happy with the catchphrase he came up with, and the three carried on down the dark sewer tunnels, still laughing and joking all the way.

However, there was one more turtle lagging behind, holding his remaining weapon in his hand sorrowfully. This one was more muscular compared to his other brothers, and had a lightning bolt shaped chip on the left side of his plastron. He wore a red mask that was slightly ragged on the tails of it, and he was armed with two Sais…or was until recently. His name was Raphael, but mostly referred as Raph by his brothers.

"Come on, let's move it!" the blue clad turtle said as they reached the turnstiles of an old abandoned subway station and jumped over it with ease, "I'm starving!"

"Oh yeah, we're talking major pizza attack here, dudes! Pizza, I need it! Oh baby!" Mikey cried, flipping over the turnstiles with glee and following his eldest brother into their home. They lived in this old subway station, which had all the essentials, including a kitchen, a bathroom, a large pit in the centre that served as their living room with a TV and even an area with their own separate bedrooms. They were making their way to a room that functioned as a dojo.

"Wait, quick high three!" said Donnie as he raised his green hand into the air. The other two stopped and slapped their hands together in a high five (or three in their case) and laughed some more as they went up the steps and entered the room.

The red clad turtle hung back for a moment and looked down as his remaining weapon in remorse. "Damn!" he cursed again testily, before following his brothers into the dojo.

Though they lived in the sewers, in the centre of this dojo, proudly stood a large flourishing tree, its lush green leaves reflecting the moon light beautifully above the sewer grate, its presence in the lair creating a peaceful and almost spiritual aura. The room was also covered in decorated wood and carpets on the floor, and on the opposite side of the room was a small shrine of sorts with a small cracked glass bowl with a small umbrella inside it on one shelf, and next to it stood a black and white photo of a family of humans; a man, his wife and their baby daughter.

The four turtle teens ran in single file into the dojo and the eldest turtle knelt down on one knee in front of the dark figure that sat cross-legged under the tree. He placed his right fist into the palm of his left and bowed.

"We have had our first battle, Master Splinter," he began confidently, "they were many, but we kicked serious – uh, I mean…we fought well." He looked up at his master respectfully.

"Were you seen?" asked the figure. Leonardo shook his head.

The figure nodded and stood up, regarding his students thoughtfully. The figure was a large, humanoid rat, covered in dark brown fur and dressed in a red robe that stretched down to his feet. His long pink tail twitched underneath his robe as he walked and picked up his emerald staff from its resting position against the tree, and looked at his four students one by one. Leonardo still bent on one knee respectfully, whilst his three younger brothers stood side by side in a line behind their elder brother, looking up at their mentor dutifully.

"In this, you must never lapse." Master Splinter spoke again, his voice holding great authority and wisdom. "Even those who would be our allies would not understand. The ninjas' domain…our domain…is the shadows. Stray from it reluctantly. For when you do, you must strike hard, and fade away…without a trace."

Raphael could not hold back anymore. "Sensei, I lost a Sai!" he blurted out. He received a glare from his older brother as he spun around to face him.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" he snapped. Master Splinter brought up a hand to silence him before he spoke. He stroked his long white beard thoughtfully.

"Most carless of you, Raphael. However, what is done is done. It is gone." He said calmly.

"But I can get it back, I promise!"

"Raphael!" he snapped, causing the other turtles to shrink back slightly, before he said in a more gentle tone, "It is best to let it go."

Raph hung his head in shame. Donnie tried to console him by putting a hand on his shoulder, but the hot-headed turtle would have none of that and smacked his hand away. Insulted, Donatello smacked him back, and Raphael retaliated again.

"**Yame!**" Splinter instructed sharply, causing the two of them to immediately cease their fight and stand to attention, (with the exception of Michelangelo who was now typing something away on his T-phone, an invention of his intelligent brother, Donatello.)

Splinter continued, "Your ninja skills are reaching their peak. But one truly important lesson remains, but must wait. I know it is hard for you here, underground. Your teenage minds are broad and eager. But you must never stop practicing the art of the ninja. The art of… invisibility."

He was abruptly cut off by the sound of Mikey speaking on his T-phone, not loud, but still nonetheless rude, with his back to them. "Hey there…yeah, I wanna large thick crust with double cheese, ham, peperoni, oh but no anchovies, and I mean **NO** anchovies! If you put anchovies on there, buddy, you're in big trouble – ow!"

Splinter whacked his staff over the orange clad turtles' head. "Michelangelo!" he snapped.

Mikey smiled apologetically, before finishing off his pizza order quickly, "Uh, that'll do, and the clocks' ticking, dude!"

As he hung up the phone, Leo and Donnie couldn't help but snicker at their youngest brother. Splinter cleared his throat, and the snickering stopped.

"I know you are still young," he continued, "but one day…I will be gone…"

All four turtles snapped their heads up and stared at him. The four teenagers knew that one day they would have to leave their sensei, the one whom they had all come to see as a father. They also knew that one day, he would leave this world permanently, leaving his sons behind to face the world alone.

They knew that day was probably still a long way away, but a life without Master Splinter?

A life without their father?

"…and when that day comes, my sons," he continued after a moment of silence, "Use my teachings wisely."

"_Hai Sensei, warewarewo rikai shimasu_." They all replied in unison, bowing to their master in deep respect.

Splinter nodded in approval. "Good. I suggest we all meditate on the events of this evening." He said as he sat back down underneath the tree in lotus formation as he prepared to meditate. Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael sat Indian style in front of him and closed their eyes.

Just then, music flooded the dojo and their eyes snapped open. They all turned to see Michelangelo dancing to the music blasting from his T-phone, clearly enjoying himself even though he looked like a complete and utter fool.

Whilst Splinter, Leo and Raph stared at the dancing turtle incredulously, Donnie merely shrugged and decided to join him in his little dance, despite the stupidity of it all. The two laughed together and struck a dramatic pose. **"Ninjitsu!"** they yelled in unison and began dancing again, singing the lyrics to the song as they danced.

"Well, this is like meditating!" said Mikey with a laugh, as he and Donnie linked arms and spun in a circle around the room. Splinter sighed, but had a weary yet warm smile on his face. Highly trained ninjas or not, boys will always be boys.

Leo couldn't fight the smile that spread across his lips; Donatello and Michelangelo were extremely close to one another, even though they were polar opposites; Donatello was a genius, able to tinker and build amazing gadgets by using only simple things they found in the nearby dumpster within mere hours. Michelangelo…well, he was a practical jokester, unable to focus on things very long due to his ADHD problem, but what he lacked in focus, he made up for in speed and agility in ninjitsu, as did Donnie; with his lack of strength, he made up for with intellect.

Both were so different, but both were inseparable.

Next to him, Master Splinter rose and placed a hand on his shoulder. He bent down to his kneeling son and whispered in his ear, "No later than eleven. And no sugar. You will spoil your dinner."

"Hai Sensei," Leo chuckled as he watched his father make his way to his room on the opposite side of the dojo. As soon as he was behind his door, Leo decided to get up and start dancing also, throwing all caution to the wind as he danced, looking like a complete fool.

"Sock it to me, baby!" Leo said with a laugh. Donnie and Mikey laughed also as they watched him perform his ridiculous display, though they did not stop theirs. Even though they were supposed to be mature, responsible ninjas, it did not hurt to have a little fun every once in a while.

Next to him, Leo saw that Raph had already gotten up and left the dojo. Leo stopped his dancing and ran after him, just in time to see him with a large red hoodie, a baseball cap, black baggy pants and black gloves with two finger holes stitched together to fit his three fingered hands, making his way the exit of the lair.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, folding his arms over his chest as he looked at his brother suspiciously, who chose to ignore him and carried on towards the turnstiles.

"Out to take a breather. That OK with you, 'fearless leader'?" Raph shot back, glaring at his older brother over his shoulder.

Leo glared right back. All of the turtles have had their share of disagreements in the past, but out of all the brothers, it was Leonardo and Raphael who fought the most. Somehow over the years, even as small children, they managed to get under each other's skin so easily, always arguing, always fighting over who's right it was to earn the title 'leader'. But after Splinter declared Leo as the leader of the team on their first night going up to the surface, it did not make matters any better between the two; rather, it made things worse, making Raph more aggressive towards Leo than before.

Raphael was extremely hot headed, easy to rile up and had a 'fight first, ask questions later' attitude, which annoyed the tactical, mature and responsible leader, Leonardo, to no end. But over the years, Leo had learned the hard way to keep his emotions under a very, _very_ tight leash; to get into a fight with an angry Raphael was one thing, but to get into a fight with an angry Leonardo was something else entirely, a road no one should ever venture.

Leo gave a heavy sigh. It had been a long night, and he was too tired to fight with Raph right now; getting him to listen to a single order was a mission in itself.

"Alright, Raph," he said, unfolding his arms and planting his hands on his hips, "but you better be careful. And be back before ten, or sensei will kill us all. Hear me?"

Raph scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Loud and clear, mom" he muttered sardonically. He leaped over the turnstiles and made his way out of the sewers. Leo rolled his eyes, exasperated. Listening to the music and laughter still echoing from the dojo, he decided to let his remaining two brothers' dance a little while longer, and made his way to the TV. After all, it was a 'Space Heroes' marathon tonight.


	3. Chapter 3: Park Warriors

**Chapter 3: Park Warriors**

Donnie skilfully skated across the sewage and drain pipes, rocketing past garbage and sewage puddles and grinding on slippery pipes as he made his way through the sewer underpasses to find his younger brother. Not long later, he found him sitting on a pipe attached to a decaying brick wall, gazing upwards through the bars of the sewer grate. He had a small lollipop stuck in his mouth.

So much for no sugar.

Donnie hopped off his skateboard and sat down on the pipe next to Mikey. "How you doing?" he asked casually.

Mikey regarded him, and then looked back up to the grate. "Fine," he replied nonchalantly, shuffling across the pipe to make more room for his brother to sit with him.

"…nice night." Donnie whispered.

Mikey nodded with a grunt of agreement. "Pizza dude's got thirty seconds."

After a long silent moment of looking at the full moon in the clear night sky, Mikey looked up at Donnie and asked with slight hesitation in his voice.

"Hey, Donnie. Did you ever think about…what Splinter said tonight?"

Donnie looked at Mikey in wordless surprise; he really was listening to him during the speech?

"What do you mean, Mikey?" he asked.

"I mean, about what it would be like…y'know…not having him?" he said sadly, looking down and fiddling with his kneepads.

Donnie sighed and wrapped his left arm around his baby brother, whom immediately hugged him right back, burying his face into his plastron. None of the boys had ever thought of a life without their sensei. He had been by their side since the very beginning, training them the ways of life as well as the ways of ninja. He taught them love and friendship, and had always told them how he loved each and every one of them as if they were his own sons, his own flesh and blood, and he would always be there for them whenever they needed him.

What if they still needed him when he was gone? None of them could bear the thought of losing him; it hurt them all far too much.

"It's okay, Mikey," Donnie consoled his younger brother, rubbing his hand on his shell soothingly, as they always did when they were younger, "Splinter isn't going anywhere yet. He'll make sure of that. He'll always be around when we need him. Okay?"

Mikey looked up at his older brother, his eyes brimmed with unshed tears. He smiled at Donnie's words and nodded confidently. Donnie smiled back and patted his head. A frown on Mikey's face was never natural. And Donnie was certain that he would always be there to make sure his baby brother wore a smile. Always.

Above them, they heard the roaring of a bike engine, pulling over to the curb and coming to a stop. Mikey released Donnie and sat up straight, as if he had not been sad a moment ago. "Time's up. Three bucks off." Beside him, Donnie chuckled and shook his head. How he could make the darkest of circumstances light again in a matter of seconds was astonishing. It was a gift, really.

The pizza delivery boy looked around him, completely confused. "Great," he mumbled, "where the heck is one-twenty-two and –"

"You're standing on it, dude!"

The pizza boy jumped in fright at the voice coming from blow him. What the heck? They lived in the sewer? They better be able to pay.

He watched in perplexity as a ten dollar bill slipped through the grate. "Just slip it down here," the voice said. Not knowing what else to do, the pizza boy did as he was told and slid the box down and retrieved his money.

"Hey, wait a second! This is a ten! The tab's a thirteen!" he complained.

"Your two minutes late, dude."

"Come on! I couldn't find the place!"

"Wise man say, 'Forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza!"

The boys' shoulders slumped as he sighed heavily. He made his way back to his bike and set off.

And he thought he delivered everywhere.

* * *

The disguised turtle made his way through the busy streets of New York, his hood over his head as he hung it low, avoiding any eye contact with humans whatsoever and his hands shoved in his pockets. To the eyes of a human, he would have looked like any other regular human, with a possible hunch. Luckily, it was getting closer to winter, so he could get away with looking overly dressed.

He sometimes went out like this at nights to have some time to himself, away from his rowdy bothers, away from his commanding nerd-tastic older brother, and his sensei, or sometimes just to pick up supplies for the lair. Running on the rooftops was great and all, but a little time on the ground never hurt anyone…unless you were a giant mutant turtle that is. But he had that covered; he and his brothers all had their own disguises, so they could walk amongst the humans when they needed to without being noticed too much.

But of course, this was New York; who ever bothered to look up from the ground?

As he walked down the streets, he couldn't help but notice the striking poster stuck onto a lamppost, with a picture of large frogs dressed in Chinese clothing and awkwardly posing in what he could just make out to be Kung Fu fighting positions.

"'Teenage Mutant Kung Fu Frogs'?" he read aloud. He then looked at the directors' name at the bottom and shook his head in disgust. "Of **course** it's Michael Bay. Where does this guy come up with this stuff?" he muttered to himself as he continued down the streets.

He looked at the time on his T-phone as he brought it out of his pocket; 10:58. Raph cursed under his breath. Leo would give him another chewing out if he didn't get his shell back to the lair. It was bad enough that he lost his Sai in the fight that same night. He couldn't deal with another lecture.

As he searched for the nearest alleyway to sneak into, he noticed two teenagers, no older than him it seemed, run past and elderly woman and snatch her purse from her. She cried out in alarm. "Please! Somebody stop them!"

As the boys ran, they didn't notice the foot that stuck out and tripped them over, landing face down in the pavement. The owner of said foot threw the stolen purse back to the elderly woman, who caught it and smiled in gratitude at the hooded figure. He gave her a wordless 'thumbs up' and turned back to the boys still sprawled out on the floor. They looked up in alarm as the hooded man grinned devilishly, and revealed a long sharp weapon, hidden beneath his jacket. The boys scrambled to their feet and ran, hurtling over a brick wall into a park. They stopped to catch their breath.

"W-what the hell was that?" one stuttered breathlessly.

"I dunno!" the other replied.

"…That was a crime, you purse-grabbing pukes."

The two boys jumped in fright at the new voice and snapped their heads around frantically in search for its owner. He appeared in front of them seconds later. He was a tall, lean, dark hooded figure, armed with a bag full of various large clubs, bats and hockey sticks over his shoulder. He wore kneepads over his slightly ripped jeans and large thick gloves on his hands with finger holes. His face was hidden by a plastic hockey mask, which oddly enough, resembled a skull.

He loomed over their quivering forms as he whipped out a hockey stick from his bag. "And this," he continued, "is the penalty!"

He whacked the two boys hard over their heads as they were sent flying, falling once again flat on their faces as they hit the muddy earth. They held their now bleeding heads in pain as the hooded man walked over to their prone forms.

"So, that's two minutes for slashing, two minutes for hooking, and let's not forget, my personal favourite…" he raised his stick over his head and prepared to swing it again, "…two minutes for high-sticking!"

Before he could strike, the man was thrown to the ground alongside the two boys by a solid kick in the back, the force of his fall knocking the hockey mask off his face. Raphael appeared before them with his arms folded across his chest and a grimace on his slightly hidden face. "How about a five-minute game misconduct for roughing, pal?" he said.

The hooded man looked up and ripped off his hood from his head in agitation, standing up to full height and glaring at the shorter newcomer. Raph realized with a start that he was not a man; he was a boy no older than seventeen at least, with black hair that stopped just above the shoulders, a black and white patterned bandana tied across his forehead, and had a gap where two front teeth should have been, and even had a few freckles; he was just a kid.

"Hey, Bogey," the boy said, "who died and made you referee? You did your job, now get outta here and let me do mine! These jerk faced lowlifes need to be taught a lesson!"

"Not like that they don't," Raph sneered. "Not from you."

Scuffling could be herd behind them as the two thieves found their chance to get up and run away. The boy scoffed and proceeded to draw out a baseball bat from his bag. "Well then, it looks like you're the one who needs to be taught a lesson, pal."

Raph raised a brow. Was he actually going to try and fight him? He had to be kidding.

"Class is 'Pain 101'. Your instructor; Casey Jones!"

_Casey?_

Raph smirked. Wasn't that a girls' name? "Look…Casey, right?" Raph chortled, "I don't wanna fight you. I don't wanna knock any more of your teeth out there, buddy"

Casey simply shrugged. "Eh, well…tough rocks, pal!"

Casey swung his bat hard at Raphael several times, who sidestepped each swing with ease. Though he couldn't land a single hit, he had to give him credit; he had a very solid swing. He swung again, but this time, Raph caught the bat in his gloved hand. Now that he looked at it, the bat looked quite old…

"A Jose Canseco bat?" Raph asked incredulously, "Tell me…you didn't pay money for this?"

This seemed to set Casey off. "Ooh…That's it!" he swung himself around Raph and planted a foot hard in his back, sending Raph tumbling forwards and tripping over the hockey stick that was dropped earlier, knocking his baseball cap off his head.

"Hey, was a two-for-one sale, pal," Casey said with a smug grin, revealing the large gap in his teeth, "My old man had good taste."

Raph got up with a grunt of frustration, and snatched up the stick he tripped over. It was then that Casey got a good look at his face. His eyes widened. "Hey…what are you…some kind of punker?"

"Huh?" Raph barked, lifting a hand to his head, realizing he had lost his hat.

Oh crud.

"I hate punkers…especially bald ones…with green makeup…who wear masks over damn ugly faces. And not just regular damn either…"

Raph growled, his temper rising quickly. He was going to shut this brat up for good.

"That's it!" he cried, raising the stick over his head and swinging it at the boy, who surprisingly enough, was able to dodge it quite well.

"Strike one! Hard Cheese!" he teased. Raph swung again. Casey dodged again. This kid was probably better than he gave him credit for –

"Ha ha! Whiffer!"

…on second thought, maybe not. He was going down.

Before Casey could react, Raph jumped and flipped over his head, landing behind the unsuspecting human and whacking him hard in the back with his own bat, sending him sprawling into the grass with a grunt.

"Home run!" Raph hooted, dropping the bat and walking over to the fallen boy smugly, planting a foot on his back in triumph. "Raphael wins! One – nothing!"

Casey growled and rolled out from underneath Raph's foot and stood up, glaring at the bald-headed punk who had dared to hit him with his own bat. The 'punker' smirked at him and folded his arms across his chest haughtily. "Well?" he asked expectantly.

"New game, roundhead," he replied testily, taking out yet another bat from his 'bag o' goodies'. Just how many bats did this kid have in there, anyways? "How about…Cricket?" he said.

"Cricket?" Raph said, un-amused, "No one understands Cricket, dude. You've gotta know what a 'crumpet' is to understand cricket!"

Unfortunately, during his short explanation (which he realized made him sound a lot like Donnie, to his immense disgust), he had not noticed that Casey had itched closer to him, his cricket bat poised and ready to swing. He wore a very smug grin on his face.

"Well then, I'll teach you!"

He swung, whacking Raph squarely in the face. _Hard_.

Raph was sent sailing through the air before landing head first into a nearby trash can, his legs flailing about in an attempt to get himself out, but only ended up toppling the can over. He tried to pull the can off his head, but to no avail.

"Six runs!" He heard Casey laugh, and he could just see the conceited grin he was probably giving him. Grabbing his 'weapons' and putting his mask back on his face and his hood over his head, Casey Jones ran from the scene, leaving the struggling mutant turtle to his own problems. As if this day couldn't get any worse –

"So long freak! I got work to do!"

That was it.

Raphael snapped.

**"FREAK?!"** he shrieked, finally ripping the trash can off his head and running after the boy. _**"FREAK?!"**_

Casey hurtled the brick wall and ran down the street, with the enraged and utterly humiliated mutant turtle on his heels. Raphael was only just able to avoid a speeding car that screeched to a stop as he leaped over the hood and continued after the older teenager.

"What the heck was that?" asked the passenger.

"Eh…looked like big turtle in a hoodie and baggie pants," replied the driver casually. "By the way, can I have your autograph, Mr Paulsen?"

"Get back here!" Raph screamed after the boy, who was now disappearing down the street and into an alleyway, "I'm not finished with you!"

Soon enough, Raph lost sight of Casey. He came to stop, panting heavily in rage. A loud, enraged scream echoed through the night.

**"DAAAAAAAAMN!"**

* * *

Leo stood in the entrance of the lair, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed and an icy look on his face as he glared into the empty tunnels. He told Raph no later than ten; it was now midnight, and there was still no sign of the red clad turtle. No phone calls, nothing. When he got his hands on him he was going to –

"Leonardo."

Leo spun around to find his sensei stood behind him, both hands resting on his cane as he regarded his eldest son. "You must go and rest. I will wait for your brother."

"But, Sensei –" Leo began to protest, but Splinter silenced him with a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Go, my son. I needed to speak with him anyhow. It is late, and you have training in the morning."

After a moment, Leo nodded with a sigh. "Hai Sensei," he said before doing as he was told and went to his room to get some much needed rest. Sensei headed to the kitchen to wait for his son to return.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Raphael appeared in the darkened lair, all the lights being turned off for the night, not even bothering to jump the turnstiles this time as he dragged himself miserably to the kitchen. He was covered in junk and dirt from his little encounter with gap-toothed boy back there. How could he, a highly trained martial artist, have been beaten by an inexperienced, skinny, no brained, skull faced jerk so easily?

His harsh words still echoed mercilessly in his mind.

_Freak…_

Despite what his brothers thought of him, and how he acted when insulted, harsh words tended to get to the red banded turtle….especially words that reminded him of what he was…a freak of nature that had no right to walk among the humans. He and his family held no value, no place in the world above. He knew that very well, but that punk had to remind him bitterly that night.

He tugged off his clothing and shoved them in the washing machine. He would let Donnie take care of the rest in the morning. He was about to leave to go take a much needed shower when suddenly, the kitchen lights flickered on, and Master Splinter was sat at the far end of the table. Raphael jumped a mile. How had he not sensed him there?

Oh wait…grand master of ninjitsu…right.

"Raphael," Splinter said patiently to his son, holding a cup of steaming tea in his hands, "come and sit by me."

Raph sighed. "Sensei, couldn't this wait 'till morning? I'm not in the mood."

"You will listen, now." Splinter said with a slightly sharper tone. Raph reluctantly took a stool and sat next to his master, refusing to look at him in shame.

"…Back in Japan, when I was still human," Splinter began slowly, "my first rule was, 'Possess the right thinking. Only then can one receive the gifts of strength, knowledge, and peace'."

He brought a hand up and lifted Raphael's chin up gently to look into his saddened emerald eyes. "I have tried to channel your anger, Raphael," he continued gently, "but more remains. Anger is self-destructive. Turned inward, it is an unconquerable enemy. You must let the anger wash over you, like a river over an immovable stone.

"Each and every one of your brothers are unique, Raphael, but you choose to face this enemy alone. But as you face it, do not forget your brothers…And do not forget me."

Raphael's eyes began to brim with tears. He blinked rapidly, and as one tear dripped down his cheek, he rubbed at it indignantly, ashamed of crying like a child in front of his father. However, Splinter gently pulled Raph into him, wrapping his strong arms around him, one hand around his shoulders and the other gently stroking his head. After a moment, Raph hugged him back, gripping him tightly as he cried softly into his chest. Splinter rested his chin on his head and rubbed his shell soothingly.

"I am here, my son."

Hidden in the shadows of the doorway behind the curtain, two figures watched in silence as the scene unfolded. A pair of baby blue eyes and a pair of grey blue watched in sympathy for the red banded turtle. The taller figure placed a hand on the smaller one and ushered him back to their rooms.

"We're all here for you, Raphie," whispered Mikey as he and Leo returned to their rooms.


	4. Chapter 4: To the Rescue!

**Chapter 4: To the Rescue!**

"April, are you sure okay to go to school today? After what happened last night – "

"Dad, trust me, I'll be fine," April replied exasperated as she packed her school bag for the day. After her little incident last night, the police had taken her to the station and called her father, informing him of what happened to her…and what could have happened. Of course he was frantic, and was at the station in record time. Nothing of hers had been stolen, and she only had a small bruise on her head, but that did not ease his fears. She had told him and the police that someone had come to her aid before any real harm could be done, but when they asked if she saw their faces or if they left any clues behind, she said they didn't leave anything behind…which was why, whilst her father was not looking, she slipped the Sai she had found into her bag and covered it up with her school stuff. She knew it was stupid, but she had a feeling the owner would reveal himself to her sometime, then she could return it and thank him in person.

Her father sighed, "Alright, but from now on, I want you to call or text me as soon as you get to school, and when you're leaving, every day, okay?"

April turned from her packing and saluted him. "Yes, sir!" she said jokingly.

"I'm serious, April. I just want to make sure your safe, alright?" Kirby O'Neil sighed and walked over to his daughters' bedroom window and looked out into the daytime city. "Just what is going on out there?" he said, almost to himself, "I've never seen anything like this before. It's like the city's falling apart…It's getting to where you can't even step outside in the daytime anymore."

April looked at her father sadly, before walking over to him and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry," she said, "It'll get better. Soon as that Chief Sterns guy actually listens to people." She moved away from him to get her bag on her shoulders, "I've been doing some research, and I've read about some things going down in Little Tokyo. I even asked Mr Gambe yesterday if he would allow me to have another interview with him. He said he'd get back to me, but I doubt it."

Her father chuckled as he followed her down the stairs and out of the apartment. "Just take it easy today, April" he said as he hugged her and kissed her forehead. "Have a good day, sweetie."

April smiled. "Later dad. Love you" she walked down the street towards the subway station, patting her bag to make sure the weapon was still safely tucked inside.

* * *

"Hey guys, look! It's her!" Mikey cried from the living room, pointing frantically at the screen of Donnie's laptop. Donnie cheeks turned red from embarrassment. He had wanted to watch the news yesterday, but due to their little 'excursion', he had missed it. Luckily, someone had posted the footage on YouTube so he could watch it for himself. As soon as the red headed girl appeared on the screen, his heart had skipped a beat. It was the same girl they had saved that night…and in the light, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

Raph and Leo got up from whatever they were doing and looked at the screen. "Huh. It's that same girl from last night. She's a News Reporter?" Leo asked.

"No, actually," Donnie replied, a little too eagerly, "she's a high school student who volunteered to be interviewed for her thoughts on the 'Silent Crime Wave' that's going on right now. Apparently, she was so good she was even offered a job there. And she's only sixteen!" Then he leaned in closer to the screen, staring at the girl with dreamy eyes. "She's so cool…"

The other three turtles made cooing sounds at their brother. "Someone's in looooove!" Mikey teased. Donnie jolted upright and blushed harder.

"I-I'm not in _**LOVE**_, Mikey! I-I just – "

Mikey and Raph proceeded to laugh at their flustered brother and make kissy-faces. Leonardo rolled his eyes with a tolerant smile. At least Raph was in a better mood than last night. He had decided to let his lateness slide, and after overhearing Splinters' talk with him he thought he didn't need any more lecturing. Whatever had happened out there last night, if it was enough to actually make him break down like that, he decided his red clad little brother had been through enough.

He smiled once more before returning to the TV, letting his brothers play around a little longer.

* * *

"So what do you think about how Danny's been acting lately, April?"

"I don't know, Irma. He has seemed a bit on the edge for the last few weeks. But then again, who wouldn't be with the whole 'fear of getting robbed in the street' lately?"

April and her companion Irma were sat in the library of their school, just logging onto their computers for research homework. However, April had other plans. She quickly typed something into Google, and within seconds, found exactly what she was looking for.

"Hey, Irma, come check this out," she whispered over to her friend, who scooted over to her side to get a better look. "It says here that there was once an organization known as 'The Foot Clan' years ago in Japan. They were a band of ninja thieves…"

"So," Irma inquired, "you think they're somehow connected to the crime wave or something?"

"It's possible. I mean, no one has actually gotten a good look at these thieves. Witnesses are even saying they moved too fast or looked like shadows…"

"But you said in that news report you did yesterday, which might I add, was brilliant –"

" – thanks!"

" – you're welcome, you said that they were only stealing electronic appliances and stuff. What would ninjas want with those things?"

April placed a finger on her chin in deep thought. "I don't know Irma…but I'm going to find out." She said determinedly.

Irma grinned at her friend and placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "That's my girl! C'mon, let's go find Danny and get some lunch. I'm starving!"

However, as the two girls exited the library, the aforementioned boy watched them, hidden in the bookshelves. He had heard the entire conversation. He quickly got out his phone and dialled a number. "I saw her," he spoke into the phone in a hushed tone, "she's on our trail."

The voice on the other side of the line was low, menacing and foreboding.

_"…Follow her…silence her…"_

* * *

"Man, she really is great!" Mikey said as they finished watching the news report on the laptop.

"'Great' is an insulting understatement there, Mikey," replied Donnie dreamily, resting his chin in his hands. "She's amazing…"

"So…you think she's a fox, dude?" Mikey asked mischievously, grinning like a fool when Donnie did a literal double take and gaped in alarm at his younger brother, his eyes and mouth agape and his cheeks blushing furiously.

"I – I do **NOT!**" he protested as Mikey toppled off the bench, clutching his sides in pain from his laughter. Leo turned his attention from his show to look at the two of them, shaking his head with a small smile as Donnie proceeded to chase Mikey around the lair with his Bo in the air staff after he started making more immature kissy faces at his computer screen.

Leo laughed. Mikey would never change.

Before he immersed himself back into 'Space Heroes', he caught Raph with his now clean human disguise on again and heading towards the exit.

"Raph," he called patiently. Raph stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn to face him.

"Yeah?" Raph asked unemotionally.

Leo chose his words carefully, "just…be careful."

Confused, Raph turned around to face his older brother. Normally, he would ask him where he thought he was going in broad daylight, and tell him not to be late and go on and on about being a ninja and junk like that; the nerd basically ate, slept and breathed ninjitsu. But this gentle, more patient tone of voice from Leo, concerning the current situation, was slightly new.

Raph continued to stare at Leo for any trace of annoyance or anger on his features, but only found a small, but very genuine smile.

Raph smiled back. It looks like they were on a truce for now. Until the next big argument, that is. But he couldn't resist a small, sarcastic comment before he jumped the turnstiles:

"Love you too, mother goose!" he ran down the tunnels.

Leo pouted. Dammit, Raph.

* * *

April exited the Principles' office, beaming wider than a Cheesier Cat as she hopped over to Irma, who waited for outside.

"So, what's up?" Irma asked, though she couldn't suppress a grin herself looking at Aprils' ecstatic face.

"I just got a call from Mr Gambe from the news station!" he cried excitedly, "He wants me to come in to the studio for another interview!"

The two girls squealed and jumped up and down in delight, causing passing students to stare at them awkwardly, but they could care less. "Oh April!" Irma exclaimed, "That's amazing! Why though?"

"Because he heard about how I almost got mugged last night from the police, and they told him how these guys came to rescue me. He wants my side of the story and to tell the city that there's still hope for us. This is so huge! I could even tell them my research on those 'Foot' guys…there has to be a link."

Later that day, after April texted her father that she was on her way to her aunts' apartment, she quickly made her way back to the subway station. Her father had told her that her aunt was still at work, and he would be running a little late himself from the lab, so she would be on her own for a little, not that she minded; she needed to get a little more research done before her next big interview.

Unfortunately, just as she reached the station, her train had already left, leaving her standing alone in the empty subway. She sighed in agitation. "Great…just great." Well, she supposed she could call Irma or their friend Danny to give her a lift back home…

"We've been waiting for you, Miss O'Neil."

April jumped with a yelp of surprise and spun around, to find several men dressed in black, with red bandanas tied around their masked foreheads with a strange symbol she couldn't quite make out. They made no move towards her, but the fact that they had suddenly appeared and surrounded her was threatening enough.

"W-what is this? Who are you guys? What do you want?" she stuttered nervously.

"Your mouth may bring you much trouble, Miss O'Neil" said the one in front of her as he stepped forward slightly. "I deliver you a message…" he brought his enclosed hand to her face, slowly opening it to reveal an empty palm. April looked at it confused, before the hand slapped her hard in the face in one fluid movement. That really stung.

"…shut it!"

April held her stinging cheek for a moment before glaring at the one who had slapped her. "Alright! That's it!" She dug into her bag and drew out the Sai, pointing directly at them. She had no idea how to exactly use it, but if it was sharp, it could still do damage either way.

She took a mad swing at them, causing them to take wary steps back in fear of getting cut. She wasn't going down easily this time. She was armed and dangerous.

"Come on!" she cried, "What, now you're too chicken to hit a girl because she's got a big pointy thing?! Come at me!"

She suddenly felt something hit her hard on the side of her neck, and then was aware of nothing at all as she fell limp to the ground unconscious, the Sai sliding out of her hand and out on the platform.

The ninjas surrounded her, one of them drawing out a knife and raising it above her neck, preparing to silence her for good. They did not notice that a black gloved, three fingered hand had grabbed his lost weapon and made a move towards them before it was too late.

**"HEY!"** bellowed an angry voice from the shadows. The ninjas spun around and saw a red hooded figure charging at them with both weapons drawn and teeth bared. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size? Like **me!**"

He kicked and punched at the advancing ninjas one by one, skilfully flipping over the head of another and jabbing the tsuka of his Sai into the side of his head, knocking him out cold. Granted, these guys were pretty fast, but Raph was faster, and stronger. It was pathetic really, for these armatures to call themselves ninjas.

As soon as he made sure every one of those '**non**-jas' were out, Raph hid his Sais back into his jacket and walked over to the prone form of the unconscious girl. He placed a gentle hand on her head and looked her over, checking of any other injuries. She seemed fine, but was going to have a nasty bruise on the side of her neck.

Looking around in case someone was watching, he carefully picked her up bridal style in his strong arms and headed down the tunnels. He knew it was stupid, but he couldn't find it in his heart to just leave her there. Also, she had just been a attacked by a group of ninjas, in New York. Other than himself and his brothers, of course. He was going to need some answers.

As he made his way deeper into the tunnels and into the sewers to his home, he failed to notice that he was silently being followed…


	5. Chapter 5: A Rat's Tale and A New Friend

**Chapter 5: A Rat's Tale and a New Friend **

"Are you freaking _crazy_, Raph?!" Leonardo seethed, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring down at his younger brother, who was kneeling down next to the comatose girl he had laid out on the bench with a pillow under her head. Michelangelo was kneeling over her, looking at her in wonder, whilst Donatello was stood next to Leo, leaning on his Bo staff and glaring at Raph also, (though in reality, he couldn't be more thrilled to have the beautiful girl in his house, but he wished it was under better circumstances.)

Raph snapped his head up a glared at Leo. "Yeah, Leo! I'm crazy, okay? A total loony, okay?!"

"Raph, why would you even - ?"

"– why? Oh, I dunno, I thought I'd liven up the place a little bit, y'know, a couple of throw pillows, a girl off the street…What do you think?!"

Leo growled and took a threatening step towards his brother. He was going to kill him. How could he bring a girl – a _human_ girl – to their lair? It was against everything Splinter ever told them; Stay away from the humans. Humans would never understand. They fear anything that is different from them. What made him think this one girl would be any different?

Before Leo could say or do anything else, Splinter stepped into the living room to inquire of the sudden rise of noise level, and saw the girl lying on the bench. "What is going on in here?!" he snapped.

Raphael looked up at his master apologetically, (a rare sight to see for his brothers) and spoke in haste, "I'm sorry Sensei! She got jumped in the subway! I had to bring her here!"

Splinter glanced at each of his sons. Leonardo looked as if he were about to erupt as he looked daggers at Raphael. Michelangelo and Donatello were watching him curiously, waiting for him to react or say something.

"Can we keep her?" Mikey asked his sensei hopefully. Leo sighed heavily and smacked a hand on his face. Splinter moved past them and kneeled down to take closer look at the girl. He placed a gentle hand on her forehead and on her cheek. She was still very much breathing, but she felt warm, and there was a bruise growing from the side of her neck.

Splinter looked up and regarded his sons. "Bring water, cold washcloth, pillows. _Hiyaku_!" he commanded. The brothers quickly got up and left to do their masters' bidding.

"Far out, dudes!" Mikey cried, "We've got a human!"

"We're not keeping her, Mikey," Leo said firmly.

"…we're not?"

"No, Donatello, we are _NOT_! That would be kidnapping!" Leo tactfully ignored his younger brothers' sigh of disappointment.

Back in the living room, Splinter gazed down at the slumbering girl below him. It had been over fifteen years since he had last seen a human this close. Fifteen years of hiding in the shadows. Fifteen years of worrying that his new family would be abused and ridiculed by the outside world if they strayed too far from them.

And fifteen, long years of regretting his horrible mistakes…the mistakes his old family had to suffer for…

_Tang Shen…_

He was brought back to reality when a soft groan escaped the lips of the girl. She was waking up. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for the inevitable.

As April was finally dragged back to awakening, her eyes set upon an indistinct figure staring down at her. When her vision cleared, and the figure came into focus, her eyes enlarged to the size of dinner plates.

…_Rat_…

Despite the light-headedness, she shot up off the bench and let out a high pitched squeal. There was a giant rat staring at her. A **giant** rat, with a human-like body, covered in fur, dressed in a **robe**, was staring at her...**_calmly_****!**

"Oh, she's awake! Hi there!"

She spun around, and to her utter horror, there were two, giant turtles, armed with weapons with masks over their green scaly faces…that could talk.

_Oh. My._ _**God.**_

"_**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!**_" she shrieked, and the two turtles screamed right back in fear.

"What's going on in here?!"

April turned around again, and screeched louder upon seeing two more turtles in red and purple stood behind the giant rat, and like the other two, screamed right back also.

Splinter closed his eyes and sighed heavily as the lair filled with high pitched screams from both the human and his sons. If it were under different circumstances, he actually would have found that quite funny.

"That is **enough**!" he bellowed over the screams. At the sound of his voice, the screams finally began to die down, but the girl was still no closer to being calm; in fact, she was closer to hysterical if anything.

"Oh my god!" she cried, "Oh my god, I'm _dead_! I'm dead, aren't I? No, no, no I'm dreaming! I _must_ be dreaming! T-those guys in the black pyjamas, t-they jumped me…a-and, that rat," she pointed at Splinter, who raised a curious brow at her, "that rat, I saw you in the street last night, before I got mugged! That explains _you_! And as for you guys…"

She stared at the four turtles, which were now gathered around and looking at her cautiously, in fear of her screaming again.

"…I don't know where you guys came from!" she wailed.

The turtles shared confused glances at each other. The one in the blue mask brought up a hand and smacked the one in red over the head.

"OW! Hey! What the heck was that?!" he cried, rubbing his now very sore head.

"I told you!" the blue on retorted heatedly, "Didn't I tell you she would freak?! I did, didn't I?!"

"**Yame**!" the rat snapped, silencing the two bickering turtles. He then turned back to April and said in a more gentle tone, "Please, if you will, just sit down and calm yourself, young lady. I will tell you were we came from."

Still gaping in fear, April did as she was told and slowly sat back down on the bench, hugging her knees to her chest as she stared up at the rat that towered over her. _'It is freaking talking'_! She thought, _'they're all freaking talking_!'

"You may call me Splinter. It is really quite simple, Miss O'Neil,"

_'And it knows my name…perfect…'_

The turtles gathered around and sat near her. The one in the orange mask cautiously sat beside her and smiled up at her reassuringly. She stared at him, noticing his big baby blue eyes and the little freckles dotted across his cheeks. Behind that green, mutant exterior, she saw an innocence, a child-like curiosity and playfulness, just in that one smile.

She returned his smile with a small smile of her own. She looked around her at the other turtles gathered around her. Even though they all looked dangerous, somehow, she knew they were not going to harm her. Sure, she was still quite shaken up about finding giant, mutated talking animals in the sewers, but appearances were not everything, were they?

The rat cleared his throat as he revealed his tale to the human stranger.

"Fifteen years ago, I was once a human, trained in the art of the ninja, who went by the name Hamato Yoshi. I lived in Japan with my wife and baby daughter. However, due to…certain circumstances, I fled to New York in search for a new life. There, I went into a pet store and purchased four baby turtles…"

"That was us!" the orange one cried excitedly.

"_Shut up, Mikey_!" the other three hissed, almost embarrassed.

"…as I was saying, I purchased four baby turtles, when I came across a strange man on the street. Something felt off about him, so I decided to follow him. I was led into a dark alleyway, where I saw the man take out of his bag, a large canister filled with a mysterious glowing ooze. However, I alerted him of my presence by stepping on a rat, and he proceeded to attack me out of fear he may have been caught.

"Instinctively, I fought back, causing the canister to smash open and spill its contents upon me and the baby turtles I held. I was transformed, mutated into the last creature I touched; a rat. However, the turtles took on a more humanlike form, and as such, gained the minds and behaviours of human children. I decided to raise these four turtles as my sons, and I passed down my knowledge of the ways of the ninja to them. And soon, I gave them all names, after the great renaissance masters,"

He looked to the one in blue, who sat directly behind April. "Leonardo". He smiled at her and bowed to her.

The one sat cross-legged on her left: "Michelangelo"

"That's me!" he said gleefully.

The one sat on the floor in front of her: "Donatello" He flashed a shy smile at her, revealing the gap in his teeth, which April found practically adorable.

And finally, the one sat on her right, twirling his Sai on the top of his right hand expertly. "And Raphael." He grinned and nodded his head once to her.

April looked around the room once more, taking her time to gaze at the four mutants seated around her. She stared at them, in awe. "Wow…that's quite a story mister Splinter, sir" she breathed. "So you were the ones who saved me last night?"

"Yep!" they replied in unison.

"That's…amazing…I never…how could…wow."

"It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" Leonardo said with a smirk. She nodded, placing a palm over her forehead and shaking it in disbelief.

"Don't worry about it!" reassured Donatello, who looked up at her bashfully, "You'll get used to it."

"Wait, so does that mean we get to keep her?!"

"_MICHELANGELO_!" they all snapped in unison. Mikey shrunk backwards, smiling nervously.

As they began to reprimand their younger brother about how humans were not pets, April couldn't help but smile. These four turtles – no – these four boys were just like any regular teens. They behaved and spoke like any other human would. It was clear in that moment, as she watched them dispute with one another, that there was so much more to these four turtles than what met the eye. All you had to do was look past their green, scaly exterior, and see what was on the inside; four, normal teenage brothers who longed to be a part of the world that humans took for granted every day. And Splinter…he was just like any other father who loved his sons dearly.

To put it simply, they were a family.

She hadn't known them for five minutes and already, she had grown to love them all. She even felt bad for screaming in their faces.

"But, she can be our friend…right? I mean, we've never had a human friend before…" Mikey asked hopefully. The other turtles glanced at each other, and then at her, the same question in their eyes.

They really wanted her to be their first human friend? Was she willing to look past their mutant features and befriend them for whom and what they were?

She looked around at them, and then at Splinter, who had been watching them all silently he whole time. His expression was static, but his fingers were twitching nervously on the handle of his cane. Clearly, he was apprehensive about her response to the sudden request. Who would not be if you had raised four mutants in the sewers for so long, and they suddenly wanted to befriend a human?

"So, you're saying, you want me to be your very first human friend? Me, friends with four mutant ninja turtles…?"

The mutants looked at each other tensely. This was not looking good.

However, they were taken aback when she smiled widely at them all. "Sure. Why not?"

All eyes widened in disbelief. She was serious? Just like that?

Whilst the others gaped in surprise, Mikey couldn't be happier as he cried out in delight and immediately wrapped his arms around the red headed girl in a crushing embrace. "YES! We have a human friend! This is awesome!"

April giggled and patted his shell awkwardly, seeing as her arms were almost pinned to her sides. However, even as she declared her friendship with the turtles, she couldn't help but think:

_What exactly have I gotten myself into?_

Splinter watched as his sons swarmed the human girl and smiled warmly at the scene. This girl was truly heaven-sent; she was able to befriend his sons in the space of mere minutes, despite their mutant appearances. It seemed Raphael had made picked the right human.

However, even now, as he watched his turtles surround the girl, he could not help but wonder;

_What exactly have we gotten ourselves into?_

As the mutant family got acquainted with their new human friend, a dark figure hid in the shadows near the entrance of the lair, watching the entire scene unfold. Though he did not hear everything, what he had seen was strange enough.

Slowly, he snuck away from the scene and ran back silently to his headquarters.

The master was not going to believe it.


	6. Chapter 6: Gone

**A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you to all who have already read and reviewed my story so far! You're beautiful! Just a quick note to those who have read this already on DeviantArt; i have added an extra little bit that i thought would have fit in nicely concerning the fact that its the 2012 turtles I'm writing about. I felt that i had to put in that little scene from the show just to show Splinter's thoughts and feelings during that time (or how I interpreted it anyways) However, everything else is more or less the same. **

**(EDIT: I've done a bit of cleaning up on this chapter!)**

**Now, on with Chapter Six!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Gone**

"Is this the place?" Leonardo asked, looking down at the apartment building across the street from the building they stood on. April nodded as she clung to Donatello, who had her hoisted up on his shell with his staff underneath her legs to keep her upright. Splinter had told them before they had left that it was late, and her family were probably very worried about the young human girl. So it was after a little bit of groaning that they treated the bruise on her neck, and after April gave them the directions to her Aunt's apartment, that the turtles had set off to drop their new friend home, Leo taking the lead, followed by Donnie (who hadn't minded in the least to carry her over the rooftops), then Mikey, and finally Raph at the rear to scout for anyone who could be following them.

It was quite amazing really, to watch these four large turtle weave in and out of the shadows silently like ghosts, without once being noticed. Not one of them made a sound as they ran and leaped through the night-time city. Not even Mikey, who she had found out to be the loudest of his brothers at times.

It was strange, to see them suddenly change from the playful teens she met earlier, to the unyielding, strong and deadly ninjas they had been trained to be.

"Yep, that's the one," April replied, "I guess no ones' home yet, otherwise the lights would be on."

Leo nodded, then turned to his brothers and motioned them wordlessly to move forward. They nodded in unison, and leaped silently across the street and landed on the roof of the apartment. April let out a squeak of surprise. How could they clear that large gap so easily?

Oh…ninjas…right.

"You live in an antique store?" asked Raphael from behind.

"Oh, um, above actually," she replied, "It's actually my aunts' store. No one really goes in anymore, though…"

As they slipped down the fire escape, Donnie let April slide off his shell and let her stand on her own. She opened the window to the room that served as her temporary bedroom, and she turned around to face the turtles.

"I'd like to invite you all in since nobody's home, but I don't have anything to offer you guys except for frozen pizza – "

Mikey was next to her so fast, she didn't even see him move. "Let's go for it!" he cried with a large toothy grin.

She stared at him, startled by his sudden eagerness, and looked to the other turtles to see them with similar smiles. "You…you guys eat pizza?"

"Doesn't everybody?!" they asked in perfect unison.

Smiling, she shrugged, "Well, okay then. Frozen pizza it is!"

Mikey hugged her once again and climbed through her window eagerly. "Far out, dudes!" he cried.

She smiled as she followed him through the window, as did his three brothers. She led them to the kitchen as they looked around the apartment in wonder. Of course, they have never seen another house besides their own. She would be curious too.

As she reached into the freezer and took out the large frozen pizzas, she asked the four eager boys, "So what do you guys like on your pizza?"

Mikey leaped up and sat on the counter and replied casually, "Oh y'know, just the regular stuff, flies, stink bugs…"

April froze in her tracks and stared at him. Next to Mikey, Raph snickered, Leo glared at the both of them and Donnie face palmed. At April's look, Mikey quickly held up his hands in surrender. "It – it was a joke! Sorry!" he said, but couldn't suppress a grin. She sighed and shook her head with a smile.

Boys.

* * *

Back in the lair, Master Splinter sat in the dojo in deep meditation as he reflected on the events of that evening.

For fifteen years, he had feared that the world above them would not understand them, reject them or even abuse them if they knew about their existence.

He remembered the day when he had finally let them venture to the world above, on the very night of their fifteenth 'Mutation Day'...

* * *

_Master Splinter and his four turtle sons sat together at the kitchen table, just finishing their meal; Algae and Worms again. Michelangelo had just brought out a large cake that he had made himself (made out of the same food of course) but his brothers were surprisingly fascinated that their youngest brother had taken the time to make it._

_"Happy Mutation Day!" he announced happily._

_"Happy Mutation Day!" his older brothers chorused._

_Splinter chuckled, "Ah, yes. Fifteen years ago today our lives changed forever, and we became the unlikeliest of families," he reminisced fondly. It was, in actuality, quite hard to believe that fifteen years had come and gone so quickly. It had felt like only yesterday that Leonardo had said his first word, (which funnily enough, was 'Captain'), Raphael had learned how to walk without stumbling, Donatello had learned how to read before both his older brothers, and Michelangelo had finally learned how to use the toilet. _

_Such times would be remembered and laughed about for years to come._

_"So sensei, now that we're fifteen, I think we're finally ready t go to the surface, don't you?" Leonardo asked, his younger brothers nodding in agreement and looking to him expectantly._

_Splinter remained silent for a moment. _

_"Yes."_

_The four boys cheered._

_"And no."_

_The four boys groaned. _

_"I _hate_ it when he does that," Raphael grumbled._

_"You have grown powerful, but you are still young," Splinter told them, rising from his seat and stepping towards the curtain at the entrance of the kitchen, "You lack the maturity to use your skills wisely." He concluded, expecting for his sons to see the reason behind his words and end the discussion, but of course, his sons would not allow that, being the stubborn young turtles they were. _

_"So sensei," Donatello mused aloud, "Isn't that just 'no'?"_

_"Yes...and no" Splinter replied, "Wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from making mistakes." _

_"Ah ha!" Donatello alleged, "So in order for us to gain the wisdom, we have to make the mistakes. So we _can_ go!"_

_"No."_

_"...and yes?"_

"No!"

_Donatello let his head fall as he groaned. _

_"Sensei," Leonardo piped up quickly, "we know you're trying to protect us...but we can't spend our whole lives hiding down here..."_

_It was then that Splinter had a choice to make a very important decision as he turned his head and stroked his beard. His eldest son was correct; he could not keep them hidden in the depths of a great city that held so many wondrous things for them to discover and explore for much longer. However, it was dangerous for them, being that should a human ever find them or follow them to their home, their lives would ultimately be destroyed..._

_...also, they were still so young. He could not bare to loose them. They were all he had left..._

_He was dragged from his thoughts when suddenly, he turned his head to find all four of his sons kneeling on the floor around him, their eyes wide and pleading as if they were toddlers again, begging for a cookie._

_He sighed heavily. A ninja knows when he is beaten after all._

_"You may go...tonight."_

_The boys rejoiced in merriment. They had finally been allowed to explore the strange and hostile world above. _

_"High three!" Michelangelo cried as he raised his hand in the air._

_As the boys slapped their hands together in triumph, Splinter thought if he had just made the biggest mistake of his life..._

* * *

After they had eagerly geared up for their trip, he told his sons to stay within the shadows, and never reveal themselves to the humans, for they would never understand that they were more than just the mutants they appeared to be. But tonight, he had received a shock, for this young human girl, who had not even known them for more than five minutes, was able to see past their mutation and see what he had seen in them from the very beginning…four children, who longed to be a part of the world they were born into. She understood that, and immediately befriended them.

Perhaps he had judged humanity too quickly. Perhaps, if one girl could see past their mutation, maybe others could too, eventually.

Then again, perhaps not. Not every human thinks the same way as the kind hearted April O'Neil does. He knew that more than anyone.

Nonetheless, Splinter knew that he could trust this girl to keep their secret safe. And he could trust her to keep his sons safe if he were not there to protect them someday…

…No. Maybe it was time he let his sons choose their own path. They were growing up now, and after all, he had said so himself just the other night; their ninja skills were quickly reaching their peak. They had all only just recently turned fifteen, but they would be able to learn the final lesson on their own, once they learn to work together. Sooner or later, they would not need him anymore. It was a day that any teacher would dread for their students, or a day that a father, or any parent in fact, would dread for their children. But it is a price he must pay if they were to survive on their own if he were to leave this world too soon.

Perhaps the time had come for him to finally let his children go…

A sound from the living room brought him out of his meditation. His eyes snapped open as he listened intently. Where the boys home already?

He stood up and took his cane as he was about to set off into the living room to greet them. Maybe now was the time to tell them. How would they react? Would they be upset? Only one way to –

Something stood at the entrance to the dojo to greet him first. And it was indeed **_not_** a turtle; it was a small, white robot with a large head and metallic jaws that snapped at him. It emitted a strange, robotic cat like sound as it advanced on him slowly.

"_Nani_?!" Splinter exclaimed as he brought his staff down hard upon the metal creature, shattering it to pieces. As he inspected the broken creature, more strangled robotic cat screeches came from the living room.

He rushed out of the dojo to find more and more of these creatures, tearing up and gnawing on the furniture, flipping over the gaming consoles Donatello had repaired for them, and even stampeding towards his son's bedrooms, ripping their doors apart in an attempt to get inside. They appeared to be searching for something.

One of them turned and caught sight of him, screeching as it charged toward him. The others soon followed suit, surrounding and snarling at the mutant rat, snapping their razor jaws at him as he got into a defensive stance, preparing to destroy the soulless creatures that had invaded his home.

"What is going on here?!" he exclaimed as he swiped and batted away at the machines with his staff as they leapt at him one by one, a few of them managing to swipe at his face, drawing blood from his cheek.

What were these creatures? How did they find their lair?

He got no answer. Instead, the robots opened their mechanical jaws as a strange thick green gas that sprayed from their mouths was released, filling the lair with its intoxicating stench.

Splinter hacked at the odor, clutching his neck as the foul substance burned his throat. He suddenly felt strange, as if the world around him was spinning out of control. His sight became blurry as his knees buckled beneath him, and he collapsed to the floor.

The last thing he saw as he fought to stay awake, were several black clothed figures surrounding him before a painful darkness enveloped him, and was soon conscious of nothing at all.

* * *

April found herself laughing so hard that tears threatened to spill as she watched Michelangelo perform a series of 'Michelangelo's Silly Impressions' act. The others were laughing as well at their little brothers' imitations.

Over the course of their little meal, April had gotten to learn so much about the four brothers;

Leonardo was the eldest of the four, and was also the leader of the team. He took his ninja training very seriously, and was easily annoyed when his brothers didn't, but he loved each and every one of them immensely nevertheless, and would do anything to keep them from harm. From what she had seen, he was the most responsible and mature of the group, though he was a total fan boy for the Sci-Fi TV series, 'Space Heroes', which irritated his younger siblings (especially Raphael) to no end.

She could tell that Leonardo was holding something back, holding something down deep within himself, but was very good at hiding it from his brothers. She didn't really understand how she could tell, but the others couldn't.

She guessed it was because she just got a feeling about things sometimes.

Then there was Raphael. She knew from the start that he was a cocky, hot headed turtle, but had a softer side to him that he rarely showed. One of his brothers had 'accidentally' let slip that he had a very soft spot for animals, to which Raph had smacked him hard over the head. She figured he and Leonardo had their issues, but deep down, he loved all his brothers, and was fiercely loyal to a fault.

She had thought about asking about the strange, lightening shaped chip in his plastron, but deemed it too personal, so she let it slide.

Donatello. He was, to put it mildly, a genius. He was able build his own laptop, work the electrical systems in their lair…fundamentally, he was the reason why they could really live down there in the first place. He was essentially the reason they were still alive; imagine those cold winter nights without heating! He was extremely loyal to his brothers, especially to Leonardo, and admitted that he didn't mind a little time indoors; as long as he could repair or invent something, he was happy. He also seemed very close to his younger brother, Mikey, even though they were polar opposites. He also tended to drone on too long about a subject that involved science of some sort, until one of his brothers stopped him.

She found that little fact kind of adorable. Her father was like that sometimes too.

Michelangelo was of course the youngest. He was also the most wild and fun loving of the bunch, loving to prank his brothers whenever he got the chance, which annoyed them to no end, but then again, little brothers did that. And he loved them all to death. Donatello explained to her that he had a major ADHD problem, but that didn't seem to affect him in the slightest; he was still an amazing ninja either way. He truly was one of a kind.

And right now, he was doing his impression of Michael Jackson.

"Oh yeah I'm bad, I'm bad! It's Thriller night! _Hee Hee_!" he cried, earning another laughing fit from the group as he bowed dramatically. "Thank you, thank you, you're a beautiful audience! Oh wait, wait, wait! I got another one! This one's amazing!"

Sitting crossed legged on the floor on her left, April heard Raph groan. "Oh no. Not Cagney…"

Mikey set up his best Asian accent and said, "You dirty rat! You killed my brotha! You dirty rat!" and began to laugh again.

"That must be Splinters' favorite!" April laughed.

The turtles were suddenly silent as they all stared at her.

She stopped laughing and looked at their slightly confused faces. "It was a joke!" she said, raising her hands in surrender. The brothers looked at each other, before smirking and then bursting into fits of laughter. Unable to help herself, April soon followed.

These four turtles were like the brothers she never had.

It was during the laughter that Leo looked at the clock on the wall and saw the time; Splinter would be getting worried by now.

"Okay guys, it's getting late. We should go back home now." He was met with a series of disappointed '_awwwws_' and groans, but they too eventually stood up and headed for April's room; it was probably better they did not use the front entrance.

"Do you guys have to leave so soon?" April asked as she opened the window, letting the boys climb out.

"Yeah, sorry April," Donnie said as he stood on the fire escape with his brothers, "he worries. Besides, aren't your folks coming home soon?"

"Yeah, I almost forgot about that. And I guess I can relate to the whole 'father getting worried' thing. But…will I ever see you again?" she asked hopefully.

The four boys nodded in unison with smiles on their faces. "Indubitably, Miss O'Neil!" Mikey said, puffing his chest out and folded his arms.

Raph cast him a skeptical glance. "Do you even know what that means?"

"Nope!" Mikey replied with a grin. Raph rolled his eyes.

Donnie laughed, "I guess it depends on how fast you stock your pizza!" he joked. "And if those 'Foot' ninja guys you told us about ever come after you again, you can count on us!"

The turtles began to silently climb the fire escape onto the rooftops.

"Well, bye you guys!" she called in a loud whisper.

"See ya, April!" exclaimed Mikey with a wave and a freckled grin.

"B-bye, uh, April" stuttered Donnie.

"_Sayonara_ April!" Leo quipped with a short bow.

Raph was the last one to leave the rooftop. He looked awkwardly to the side and then waved with a small smile. April smiled back with a wave as Raph disappeared into the night, following his brothers into the shadows.

April closed the window and leaned back on it heavily, putting a hand over her heart. It was truly amazing that in the space of a few hours, not only had her life had been changed forever, but for the first time since this crazy crime wave had begun, she felt truly safe.

* * *

"Dudes, she totally loves us!" cried Michelangelo as they trekked back through the sewers to their lair.

"Well, I'm sure your impressions really helped though, huh Mikey?" Raph asked sarcastically.

Donnie smirked as Mikey pouted. "But guys," he said "this is awesome! Her dad's scientist, I'm a scientist, she likes science too…oh she is so gonna like me!" he cheered.

Raph stared at his younger brother. "I don't think you're her type, if you know what I mean, Donnie," he deadpanned. He smirked as Donnie growled at him, his cheeks turning crimson from embarrassment. Mikey let out a laugh.

Leo chuckled at his brothers' petty arguments as he led the way back to the lair. Though he had to admit, this night was pretty eventful. At least it was over for now. But if this 'Foot Clan' were ever to show their faces again, he was certain that they would rise to the surface again to help their new human friend, and the many people of the city.

For now though, they could head home and get some much needed–

Leo stopped dead in his tracks. The others stopped also and looked at their leader curiously. "What's up 'fearless'?" Raph inquired. Leo shushed him and held up a hand. He listened intently for something.

"Something's wrong…" he whispered. He bolted towards the turnstiles, his brothers' close on his heels. Drawing their weapons, the turtles hurtled the turnstiles and prepared themselves for an attack. However, all four ninjas nearly dropped their weapons in horror at what they saw.

The lair was a catastrophe. The furniture had been flipped over and gnawed at, the TV was smashed and smoking lightly as were the giant game consoles, ripped wires dangled loosely from the ceiling, Donnie's lab door had been clawed at as if something had tried to get inside, and the doors to their rooms had been ripped apart. None of their valuable items had been destroyed or taken, but that was not what worried them.

In all this chaos, only one question came to their minds…

…Where was Splinter?

"Sensei?!" Leo cried, sheathing his weapons as he bolted for the dojo. Raph ran after him whilst Donnie and Mikey inspected their rooms and in the lab or kitchen to see if he were hidden there. They were calling out to their father, praying that he was still alive and unharmed.

But they shouldn't worry, should they? He was a ninja master. He could easily defend himself, right?

Leo and Raph entered to the dojo to find it mostly undamaged but empty. They looked inside his small room to find it vacant as well. Leo cursed under his breath. Where was their sensei? What had happened here?

"Leo! Raph! Get in here, quick!" bellowed Donnie almost hysterically from the living room, or whatever was left of it. They bolted for the main area without hesitation, and froze in their tracks. Donnie and Mikey knelt down in the pit, tears streaking down their faces and dampening their masks.

Donnie held the broken staff of their sensei in his hands.

He looked up to Leo, and with trembling hands, handed the shattered staff over to his older brother.

Leo knelt down beside them and took the staff as Mikey buried his head in Donnie's chest and sobbed. Donnie squeezed his eyes shut as he clutched his baby brother to his chest, tears also now dripping relentlessly down his face.

Leo stared down at what was left of their sensei in his trembling hands. He held the staff to his chest. He had to remain strong for his brothers, but he could not prevent the single tear from slipping down his face.

His eyes seared with anger. Whoever had taken their sensei away, whoever had hurt his family, he would make them pay dearly. He would make certainty of that.

Raph stood frozen in place, staring at the staff his older brother held. He fell to his knees next to him as a horrible, _horrible_ realization hit him.

Those ninjas from the subway…they must have followed him…and he had no idea.

They had found and destroyed their home. They had taken their sensei.

_Father…_

He held his head in his hands and screamed.


	7. Chapter 7: Refuge

**Chapter 7: Refuge**

The turtles sat in a circle in the remains of their living room. A heavy, distraught silence hung over them. Donatello still held a red-eyed, tear streaked Michelangelo to his chest, trying to comfort him by rubbing his shell in a soothing motion. Leonardo sat on his right, still holding the staff limply in his hands. On his left sat Raphael, who had his knees drawn into him and his head resting in his arms, refusing to look at his brothers in shame.

Leo sighed and hung his head sorrowfully. He did not know what to do. What could they do? Their father was gone, and they had no way of knowing if he was alive or not.

Master Splinter had told them just the other night that one day, he would be gone.

None of them ever imagined that that day would come so soon.

"…this is all my fault…" mumbled Raph, still not looking up at them as they cast him a look of confusion. He sniffed, "…I-I should've known I was being followed by those stupid Foot Ninjas…if I had just looked behind me and made sure…"

Leo silenced his younger brother by placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. Raph finally looked up at him, his eyes filled with regret. "It's okay, Raph," he said softly, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "It wasn't your fault…but we can't focus on that right now."

His expression became firm as he watched his brothers. "We can't stay here. Whoever did this obviously knows about who and what we are. They will definitely come back for us…our home is no longer safe."

The others exchanged fearful glances. Donnie spoke up softly, "But Leo…this is the only place we were ever safe to begin with…this is our only home. Where else could we possibly go?"

Leo regarded Donnie, his face resolute and reassuring. "…there's only one place we'll be safe…"

* * *

April was awakened by a gentle taping on her window. She looked at the time on her alarm clock; 3:30 am. She sighed heavily in mild annoyance as she ignored the tapping. She was tired out from the amazing night she had just experienced, and she desperately needed her sleep for tomorrow's next big interview. It was probably just a bird. It would go away soon.

The tapping started again, this time more frantic, more desperate. She raised her head and glanced at the window.

"…April? April, are you there?" whispered a familiar voice.

Her eyes widened.

_Leo…?_

She threw off the covers as she stumbled out of bed and quickly made her way to the window. She drew back the curtains and was taken aback at what she saw.

The turtles were huddled together on the fire escape. Their faces held distraught expressions, and she could just see tear streaks down their cheeks.

She quickly unlocked the window and opened it wide. "Guys? What's wrong? What happened?" she asked. Leo looked her in the eye, and held out the broken staff, mumbling a single word.

"…Splinter…"

And she immediately understood.

* * *

The next morning, April woke up to the sound of gentle snoring beneath her. At first she was confused. Was her dad sleeping on the floor?

She suddenly remembered as she looked down and saw the nest of pillows, blankets and turtles on her floor.

They were huddled closely together in a protective nest, as if they were afraid to stray too far in fear of losing one another. Leo lay on his side with Mikey hugged close to him, Mikey's arms wrapped around his waist and his head resting in the crook of his neck. Raph was resting his head on Mikey's shell and Donnie was lying across his stomach. Raph had an arm slung protectively around Donnie's shoulder.

None of them had unsheathed their weapons.

April gazed down at them forlornly. She felt horrible for these four young turtles. They had just lost their only father, and though they probably would never admit it, they were scared. They may be highly trained martial artists, but they were all still a whole year younger than her; they still needed their father, and he had been ripped away from them far too early. Now, they didn't even have a home to go back to; it was completely devastated, and the ones who had taken him would surely come back to take their lives if they stayed. They had no choice but to come to her. But she didn't mind. She would do anything for them.

April placed a soft hand on Leo's head. She could feel all of their pain. Though she could never truly feel what they felt, she could relate; she could not bear it if her father was taken from her too.

Suddenly, she heard a knock at her door. Her heart stopped in her chest.

"April? It's dad. Some of your friends are here to see you."

Instantaneously, the turtles were wide awake. In perfect unison, they snapped their heads up towards the door, then to each other, then to April their eyes wide and fearful.

Her father did not know about her new friends. He had come home before the turtles arrived and had gone to bed straight after. She had kept a promise to keep their existence a secret, but so far, that promise was not working out so well.

The turtles shot up from the floor, tripping and stumbling over each other in a panic, as did April as she ran over to her door.

"Uh, coming! Just a sec! I-I'm not decent yet!" she called. She then spun around to face the turtles, "Guys you've gotta…hide?"

By the time she had turned around, the turtle were nowhere to be seen. How did they…?

Oh…ninjas…oy.

April opened her door to find Irma and Danny, smiling at her. "April! Sorry we had to come so early in the morning! You didn't call last night. Are you okay?"

"Oh right, sorry! I guess I had a late night last night, y'know with preparing for my interview today and all!" April laughed, scratching behind her head nervously. Irma thought something was up, but disregarded it for the time being; clearly her 'gal-pal' was still too tired to think straight.

April and Irma engaged in a conversation about how her interview would go today and wishing her good luck, whilst Danny looked aimlessly around the room. Why were there a bunch of blankets and pillows on the floor? Did she have a sleepover or something…?

He looked back to April and saw the slight bruise on her neck. Looks like she got the message. But after hearing about that interview, she clearly wasn't heeding it.

He looked on top of her closet to take a look at the various action figures and old stuffed animals that sat up there slowly collecting dust. April had always been a fan of super heroes and stuff like that.

However as he looked closer, he spotted two round blue eyes with an orange mask and a surprised green face staring at him in the shadows…

_…what the hell?_

Danny rubbed hard at his eyes, thinking he must be dreaming, then looked back up to the closet to find the green faced thing gone, as if had never been there beforehand. Danny stared in disbelief; there was no way he imagined that.

Another knock at the door startled him back into reality as April's father appeared in the doorway. "Hey there, April" he said, "Sorry to interrupt, but I just want to tell you that your Aunt's going to be away on business for the next two days, and I'm going to be late coming home again tonight. You'll be okay on your own again?"

"Yeah dad, don't worry. I'll be fine. I've got friends to look out for me" April said with a smile, and wrapped her arms around Irma and Danny. However, as she said this, her gaze wandered slowly to the window.

"Okay then. I'll see you on TV. Go get 'em, sweetheart!" Mr O'Neil cheered with a grin as he left the room. They heard the front door close as he left the apartment.

"Looks like Danny's dads' giving your dad a tough time at the lab again, huh Danny?" Irma laughed. Danny looked away from the closet and gave a shaky nod.

"Yeah, well, I guess it's because he's so stressed out right now. He needs to take it out on someone other than me, right?" he joked, returning his gaze to the top of the closet.

Irma rolled her eyes and turned back to April. "Well, I guess we better get going too" she said said, giving April one last squeeze before she headed for the door with Danny, who for some reason was still staring at the top of her closet. "How are you getting to the station?"

"Oh, I'll be getting a taxi. They said they're gonna send one to come pick me up at ten o'clock, so I'd better get ready. I'll see you guys on Monday!"

Irma and Danny waved goodbye and closed her door. Only when she heard the front door close did she allow herself to release a long sigh of relief. "Okay guys, coast is clear" she announced to her seemingly empty room.

Her eyes widened as the turtles finally reappeared from their odd hiding places.

Raph came back through the window from the fire escape and Mikey stood up and stretched his stiffened limbs, for he was sat among the large stuffed animals she had. "Dudes, it's too early to be doin' ninja-hidey-hidey-time thingies…" he complained in a slurred voice as he yawned and stretched some more, rubbing his eyes from keeping them open for so long; being a stuffed animal was harder than it looked!

Donnie rolled out sideways from under her bed, and looked up at her bashfully. "Umm…sorry April. I couldn't find a better place to hide…" he said, his cheeks now a deep red.

April laughed a little and shook her head, extending a hand to help him up. "Don't worry about it. It's better than them seeing you and freaking out…wait where's Leo?"

A loud bang and Japanese curse from inside April's closet made everyone jump with a yelp of surprise. Leo came stumbling out of the closet, rubbing his head in pain.

Mikey stared at him before bursting out laughing. "Hahaha! Decided to come out of the closet now, Leo?" he snorted. Leo looked confused for a moment before finally getting what his little brother meant and pouted in embarrassment. Raph and Donnie couldn't resist laughing either.

April looked at them, bewildered. They were being so loud now, how had they managed to hide so…?

Oh.

She smacked a hand against her forehead for even thinking of a question with such and obvious answer.

_Freaking Ninjas_.

But now, as she looked upon their smiling faces, she couldn't suppress her own smile. It was good to see that they were still able to laugh, despite the loss of their sensei just the night before. They still had hope that things would be alright again, that they would find their Sensei and become whole again.

And April would do everything within her power to make it happen.


	8. Chapter 8: The Monster Revealed

**Chapter 8: The Monster Revealed**

Deep In the underground of an old, long abandoned church laid an underground haven for the many delinquents of New York. Everywhere you looked there were children of different ages mingling amongst each other, indulging themselves in various games, gambling, fast-food stands, skateboarding areas and even expensive drug dealings. Anything they wanted to do, down there, they could do it. No rules, no limits, and no parents. This place was a dream come true for the many trouble makers, drug addicts and school rejects that felt they did not fit In with the city world above them.

However, this place was more than just a playground for delinquents. On the far end of the hideout, was a door to a large hidden laboratory, currently occupied by the mass production of small silver robots with large, razor sharp jaws.

To the many citizens of New York who would soon witness these creations would call them monsters. But to the eyes of their creator, they were art, his greatest accomplishment; The Mobile Offensive Underground Search Excavation and Retrieval Sentries. Or, M.O.U.S.E.R.S. for short.

The creator of this mass scale manufacture of robots was a man named Baxter Stockman, a dark-skinned, thin man with round glasses, a pink sweater and had a short afro. He had been mocked and laughed at by all his colleges, who thought his M.O.U.S.E.R.S would never succeed, that he would never amount to anything, and that his creations were a complete waste of valuable time and money. But when they beheld the power of his latest beautiful creations, they would not be laughing anymore.

They would tremble in terror!

He was interrupted in his workings by the sound of loud banging and cheering from the other room. He walked over to the door and opened it to find a cluster of kids messing around with garbage cans. Those punks…

"Hey! Pipe down over there!" he snapped, "I'm trying to work!"

The teenagers shrugged and began to walk off. Even though he was a complete pushover, they were told strictly to respect Baxter Stockman and their other leaders if they were to stay down there.

"Sorry Mr Spaceman!" one of them said as they walked off to another area.

Baxter growled. "It's Stockman! Baxter Stockman!" He stalked his way back to his computer desk that was littered with many blueprints and robotic parts for his M.O.U.S.E.R.S. He gazed upon them. His employer so far was satisfied with the results.

Especially after that test run the other night…

A knock at the door startled him out of his thoughts. He looked up from his work to find a tall young woman leaning heavily in the doorway. Her dark, golden brown eyes gleamed roguishly as she stared at the middle-aged man seated at his desk. Her hair was short, black and dyed yellow at the bottom. She wore black mascara over her eyes, rouge lipstick on her smirking lips and had red paint dashed over her eyes in the shape of lightning bolts. She wore a sliver breastplate and long silver gauntlets over her black Shinobi shozoku. She walked calmly over to Baxter, who stood up in respect upon her entering.

"M-Miss Karai!" he stuttered nervously, "What brings you here?"

Karai smirked at him and sat on his desk, crossing one leg over the other and leaned back lazily, but never losing her playful smirk. "Oh, y'know, the usual" she said nonchalantly, picking up a M.O.U.S.E.R head and inspecting it, "just snooping around. Y'know, those kids aren't doing such a bad job of collecting your stuff, eh Baxter?"

Baxter nodded eagerly at her statement. "Oh, yes Miss Karai. They've stolen all the exact resources I needed to develop my robots, and they seem to be working very effectively. Especially after that little test run we did the other night. And that Danny boy who led us to that underground lair proved to be very useful as well. Wouldn't you agree?"

Karai simpered and tapped the robot head on Baxter's forehead before setting it back down on the table. She leaped off the table and made her way out the door.

"Just keep working" she said over her shoulder, "my master won't be pleased if you don't follow his demands exactly, Dexter Spaceman." She closed the door behind her.

"It's _Baxter Stockman_ actually…" he mumbled and went back to work, fearful of the wrath that would be upon him if he did not work to fulfill his employers' demands.

He liked his head, and wanted to keep it on his body, thank you very much.

Karai weaved her way through the crowd of teenagers, who slipped out of her way when they caught sight of her. She was a High Ranking Kunoichi, so no one dared get in her way, in fear of getting into serious trouble. Not that she minded though; trouble usually found her wherever she went.

And she welcomed it with open arms.

As she walked around, a younger boy accidentally rammed into her as he ran by. He stood frozen and stared at her in shock. She gave him a fake smile of reassurance and patted his cheek lightly. "Go play," she purred. The boy blushed deeply before nodding and disappearing into the crowd.

Karai finally reached her destination; a dojo filled with older teenagers, selected individuals dressed in the 'Foot' uniform, others sparring with each other or lifting weights. All became silent and still as she entered the dojo. Her face showed no emotion as she looked upon the 'soon-to-be' Foot soldiers. Her eyes locked upon one in particular; a tall dark haired boy, drenched in sweat from his sparring match earlier on. Another boy lay on the floor behind him, blood dripping from his now busted lip. Clearly, the dark haired one was the victor.

Without a word, she bowed to him, then straightened up and acquired a fighting stance, visibly indicating that she wanted to put him to the test. He hesitated at first, then returned the bow and grew into a defensive stance. Karai charged him first, throwing spinning back-kicks and punches at him, but he was quick to dodge or block her oncoming attacks. He thrust his fist forward and landed a solid hit in her left shoulder. The others around them gasped in shock; hardly anyone had hit the High Ranking Kunoichi before. She herself was slightly surprised, but did not permit herself to show it outwardly.

She simply nodded her head. "Good" she said. The boy straightened up and bowed to her once again.

Karai suddenly kicked him in the face, and as he went crashing to the floor, she pinned him down with her foot on his chest. "Never lower your eyes to an enemy" she said as the boy collected himself and nodded, blood now dripping from his nose.

"H-hai, Karai-sama" he stuttered. Karai nodded and released him.

The sound of a gong being hit suddenly filled the underground hideout. All activities stopped as the juveniles raced down passed the laboratory that Baxter worked in, who followed them as they flooded one by one into a large, dark, arena-like room. Official members of the Foot Clan were stood on the side-lines, backs erect and stood side by side in a line. All was still as a deafening silence filled the air.

On the other side of the room, two large doors with the crest of 'The Foot' painted on it opened, revealing Karai wearing her black mask over her face as she stepped into the room. She moved out of the way and bowed deeply in respect as a large, bladed, armored figure entered the room and strode past her. His slow, heavy footsteps were almost deafening in the silence as he walked slowly into the center of the arena. The figure was a tall, muscular man fully clothed in armor and a cape that flowed behind him as he strode forward. He wore bladed shoulder pads and gauntlets over his arms, and wore a large, bladed helmet that covered his features except for his eye; the other appeared to be but a burnt, red, bloodshot orb.

His very aura reeked of death.

As he reached the center of the arena, Karai approached him and bowed low to him. "Master Shredder." She said. "The Foot Clan awaits your orders."

The Shredder nodded once. "Bring the one who has become qualified to earn the title of The Foot" he spoke slowly.

"Yes…father." She bowed once more, and then turned her head to the Foot Ninjas behind her. They nodded and set to work.

A brown mat was rolled onto the floor, and the boy from the sparring match earlier stepped on it, fully dressed in the Foot Clan uniform aside from the mask, and kneeled before his master. Shredder looked down upon the boy before him, and without averting his steel-like gaze, extended his black gloved hand outwards. Karai placed the mask she held in his open palm.

"Money cannot buy the honour which you have earned this day" he spoke as he slipped the mask over the boys' head, "You make us all proud." The boy stood up and bowed once again in respect before retreating to the side-lines.

The Shredder raised his gaze to look upon the many youths that filled the arena. "Only discipline, effort, and loyalty earn the right to wear the Dragon Doji…the Crest of The Foot" he spoke, his voice low and orotund. "You are here because the outside world rejects you. This is your family. I am your Father…and I want you all to become full members of The Foot."

"There is a new enemy, freaks of nature that interfere with our goals. You are all my eyes and ears. Together, we will punish these creatures…these…Turtles!"

The sound of cheering echoed throughout the underground lair. However, as they cheered, in a sealed room in the farthest corner of the arena, the heart of the prisoner inside sank at the sound.

Splinter sat on his knees, chains binding his hands behind his back and around his body, his face slightly bruised and his head hung low. He was weak and weary from his attack, and the lack of windows in this room and the chains crushing his chest were making it hard to breathe. However, he could care less about his physical state; he was in the hands of his worst enemy, his worst nightmare made flesh and blood; his old nemesis, Oroku Saki…The Shredder himself.

That monster had taken everything he had ever loved…his home, his name, his wife and baby daughter…and he was now going to mercilessly do away with the only thing he has left to cling on in this world…his sons.

And here he was, helpless to stop it.

However, he still had a glimmer of hope. The Shredder was ignorant of the fact that this mutated rat was in reality, the very man whose life he had ruined, Hamato Yoshi, for he had not said a word since his capture. If could get just one chance, he would find a way to escape his imprisonment and save his sons, without The Shredder ever knowing he was Hamato Yoshi.

However, if not, he would have to pray that his sons were strong enough to face this new foe. Pray that they were truly ready to face the world without him should he perish in this prison.

Shredder spoke again after the cheering subsided, bringing Splinter out of his thoughts. What he heard turned his blood cold.

"I am counting on you. Find me information I can use, and report back to me immediately. Find these turtles…and bring them to me. Dead or alive."

"…Master…"

Shredder spun around to the sound of a young voice from above the stadium grounds. All heads turned to a boy with his hand raised in the air.

Danny spoke with clear confidence to his master. "…I know where they are…"


	9. Chapter 9: Fighting amongst Brothers

**Chapter 9: Fighting amongst Brothers**

Since the apartment was empty for the time being, the turtles were free to roam around without fear of being seen, though Leonardo had strictly advised them to keep the curtains drawn. April told them before she left for her interview that day that they were free to do what they liked as long as they did not go into her fathers' or Aunts' room, and any mess they made was cleaned up immediately; she wanted the place spotless before she or her family returned.

Raph and Mikey debated on whether they could call her 'Big sister', 'Mother' or a 'Leo Jr.'.

Mikey spent most of his time in April's room looking through her comic books or action figures (which he thought was insanely cool for a girl like her to own) or in front of the TV with Donnie, waiting for April's interview to start. Leo was mostly in the living room meditating or practicing simple katas (trying not to break or slice anything in half), and Raph was in the kitchen, snacking on anything he found appealing.

By midday, the strawberries were mysteriously extinct from the fridge.

Soon enough, the sound of Mikey's excited voice called all of them to the TV, where Channel Six News was showing April sat at a desk with Mr O'Brien Gambe. Donnie sighed and stared dreamily at the screen, Mikey sat cross-legged staring with a large grin on his face, holding a large panda teddy bear in his arms, whilst Leo and Raph were listening intently to what April had to say.

_"Hello, this is Carlos Chang O'Brien Gambe, reporting live for Channel Six Eyewitness News, with Miss April O'Neil once again to tell us more on her thoughts of 'The Silent Crime Wave', and to share an extraordinary experience she had just last night. So April, tell us your thoughts."_

"Well, Mr Gambe, this is beginning to sound less and less like your common garden-variety subway mugging…"

"She's such a great reporter…" Donnie sighed.

"She's a babe!" Mikey grinned, then laughed as Donnie stared at him incredulously, his eyes wide and mouth hung open in shock. He smacked Mikey over the shoulder as he smirked.

"Guys, shut it!" Leo hissed, straining his ears to hear what April was saying.

_"…with an organization known as The Foot Clan."_

"I'm sorry…'The Foot'?"

"I know it sounds like a funky club for podiatrists, but I've been doing some research and have been talking with a lot of Japanese-Americans in the past few days who say that our recent crime wave is reminiscent of a secret band of ninja thieves who once operated in Japan."

"Hmm…really? So, Ninjas in New York, huh? How interesting! So, do you think the police are looking into this?"

"Well, I don't know about you sir, but I doubt very much that Chief Sterns is taking this possible connection seriously."

Donnie gasped whilst Raph and Leo winced. Mikey stared stumped at the screen. "Did she just diss the cops guy?"

"I think she did, Mikey." Leo said.

Mikey beamed. "She is such a bad-ass!"

"She sure is," Raph chortled.

_"Well, Miss O'Neil, you still haven't told us how you got away from your attackers the other night."_

"Oh, it's really quite incredible. Some of…the citizens of New York actually came to my rescue! Who says everyone in the Big Apple looks the other way, huh? Seriously though, Mr Gambe, I would like to take this moment to thank one of individuals in particular. And if he's watching…"

April turned to the screen and flashed one of the warmest, most sincere smiles any of them had ever seen.

_"…Thank you, Raphael."_

Raph's emerald eyes grew wide and his cheeks turned a furious shade of crimson. Leo, Donnie and Mikey all turned on him and laughed as he tried to shield his flushed face. "Oooooh!" they all cooed in unison.

"Studly!" Leo laughed. Raph growled at him and blushed harder.

"Hey look! He's blushing!" Mikey exclaimed, pointing at the flustered turtle.

"I am _**NOT**_!" Raph snapped back, only causing his younger brothers to laugh harder.

"I think he's actually turning red!" Mikey teased further, "awwww! Is 'Big Tough Raphie' all red and embarrassed?"

To show how 'embarrassed' he was, Raph threw his Sai in Mikey's direction, which landed right in-between his legs. All the laughter stopped as Mikey stared at the weapon wedged into the floor that had narrowly missed its mark, slightly paling. "Ummm…maybe not, then" Mikey said.

Raph got up from the couch and plucked his Sai from the carpet and walked over to the window. "Don't worry about it, Mikey. Donnie's just sore 'cus she likes me more than him!" he said smugly. Donnie gasped in outrage, which went ignored as Raph turned to Leo.

"So what do we do now?" he asked.

Leo stood up and folded his arms. "What do you mean 'What do we do now?'?"

"Splinter is out there somewhere! We can't just _sit_ here!"

"Don't you think I know that?"

Raph stopped in his tracks. He glared at his brother, his eyes practically shooting daggers at him by its intensity. Leo was unmoving however, and shot those daggers back in his face.

Donnie saw where this was going to lead to and gently took Mikey by the shoulders and helped him to his feet. Mikey looked up at him confused at first, before glancing at Leo and Raph, and then looking back up at Donnie. "Fight?" he asked quietly.

Donnie nodded. "Fight" he replied, his tone serious as he led Mikey away from the soon-to-be 'battle' ground.

"…Kitchen?" Mikey asked.

Donnie nodded. "Kitchen"

As soon as they were out of sight, Raph shot at Leo, "So…what are we gonna do about it, 'Leader'?"

"What can we do, Raph?" Leo shot back, "April's our only link to these guys. We have to wait until she comes up with something."

Raph clenched his fists to his sides, "Oh, so that's the plan from our 'Great Leader', huh?!" he shouted, stepping threateningly up to Leo and jabbing an accusing finger in his chest. "We just sit on our butts, do we?!"

"Knock it off!" Leo snapped, slapping Raph's hand away, his own temper rising, "What do you want from me, Raph? I don't see _you_ coming up with any bright ideas! And rushing blindly into the city and interrogating every random person off the streets isn't one of them! We need a smarter plan than that! And you need to start following my orders!"

Raph growled like a feral dog at his brother. "I am so _sick_ of your stupid 'Space Hero' Zen crap, Leo! Why do think you have to act like dammed hero all the time?!" he screamed.

"Oh yeah?! Well _I'M sick to_ _**death**_ of your temper and bad attitude!" Leo screamed back, finally having enough of his brother and finally giving in to the stress that had mounted on him since their sensei had disappeared. "Why do _**you**_ have to act like such a _**jerk**_ all the time?! Ugh, I've had it up to _**here**_ with you, Raphael!"

"What did I do?! Why the hell are you talking to me as if it's my fault?!"

"Because it _**IS**_ your fault, you idiot! This whole mess is _your fault_! If it weren't for you being so careless, The Foot would never have followed you, found our Lair and taken Sensei! None of this would have ever happened if it weren't for _**you**_!"

Raph stared wide eyed at his older brother in silent shock. Mikey and Donnie peeked around the door and stared at the two of them in disbelief. Leo would never say something like that, to any of them, not even to the hot headed Raphael.

Leo never lost his glare and never averted it from his younger brother. Raph's anger boiled as he looked down at the floor.

"Oh yeah…? Is that how it is…?" he whispered, before stomping past his brother and heading towards the front door, "Well, I'll just take my attitude and leave!" he shouted over his shoulder.

"Why don't you?!" Leo shouted back, not looking behind him.

"I Will!"

"Good!"

"Great!"

"Go Ahead! We don't _**need**_ you!"

The front door slammed shut.

Leo looked down at his feet. He felt so ashamed of himself. How could he have said something so harsh like that, to Raphael of all people? He had already felt responsible for the loss of their Sensei, and now he just had to…

Leo looked at his hands. _'If sensei could see me here now…he'd say I'm a terrible leader…'_

Leo turned and ran into April's room, slamming the door shut behind him.

In the kitchen, Mikey and Donnie sat at the table in silence. Mikey turned to Donnie, his blue eyes wide and slightly afraid of what he had seen. Donnie, without missing a beat, immediately went over and wrapped his arms around his little brother, who clung tightly in response. Donnie knew Mikey hated conflict just as much as he did, and he hated to see his older brothers fight. As far as they knew, their arguments had never reached the point of physical violence, but this was the worst they had seen it get between the two.

"Don't worry, Mikey," he said gently, "They...just need some space. They'll make up eventually. They always do, right?"

Mikey looked up at Donnie as he smiled down at him reassuringly. He thought for a minute, and then nodded his head with a smile.

Donnie smiled. That's what he liked to see. "Hey…you wanna go watch some TV with me?"

Mikey pretended to think about that. "Can we have…Pork rinds?"

Donnie grinned. "Pork rinds."


	10. Chapter 10: Ambushed

**Chapter 10: Ambushed**

Raphael paced back and forth angrily on the roof of the apartment. "Damn!" he cursed under his breath. Leo…that jerk. Who did he think he was? So what if he had an attitude or a temper? He was still the best fighter they had, and if anything, his anger made him a better fighter…

Raph stopped his pacing. He couldn't help but agree with Leo on one thing; his attitude was not going to get them anywhere. If he kept this up, they would never find Splinter…

Raph decided to practice some basic katas to clear his head and calm himself down. Training always helped let off some steam for the red banded turtle. He would do this for a few minutes, and then go talk to Leo…

…and _maybe_ even apologize.

That is, if he didn't punch him square in that smug, little, 'Captain Ryan' fan-boy face of his first.

* * *

A few buildings away, the infamous vigilante Casey Jones sat out on the fire escape with his radio and a pair of binoculars at his side. He liked to come out here to clear his head or calm his nerves now and again.

Being a vigilante in the city of New York was rougher than it looked, you know.

As he looked over the busy city, watching as the sun slowly began to set behind the skyscrapers, his eyes suddenly set upon a large moving green figure a few apartment buildings away. Interested, he got out his binoculars to get a better look…and his eyes instantly widened.

"…holy crap…a giant freaking turtle…" he breathed, adjusting the binoculars in case he was just seeing things. Nope, he was definitely seeing a giant turtle on a roof, looking like it was practicing some actually pretty impressive moves.

Wait a second… he remembered that red mask…it was the same guy he fought in the park a few nights ago. He was a giant turtle?!

"Huh," he said to himself, "I knew that guy wasn't normal. Shoulda' known from the big green bald head thing…wait, what's that?"

He looked away from the turtle and could just see several black figures hopping across the roofs, silently closing in on the unsuspecting creature. There were more than he could count.

"Uh oh…"

Taking off his binoculars, Casey gazed nonplussed at the scene, pondering on whether or not he should go and help him. The guy didn't seem like such a bad guy now that he looked back on it; he was actually pretty fun to fight with, he had to admit that much. But then again, he had no idea what he could get himself into if he did go and help. For all he knew, that giant turtle could be some kind of green alien from another dimension, and those guys in black could be disguised government agents sent to capture him and interrogate him or something bizarre like that. He knew without a doubt that he would be putting himself in real danger, but he was a hero, wasn't he? The 'Last Hope' for the people of this city. Heroes were supposed to help people, no matter the danger, weren't they?

But then again, he wasn't just any hero. He was Casey Jones.

With his decision firmly in mind, Casey quickly leapt back through the window and into his room. "Mom!" he called out as he grabbed his mask from off his bed and retrieved his 'weapons' from his closet.

"I'm goin' out!"

* * *

Raph stopped his katas and walked out to the edge of the roof to the balcony. He stared out forlornly into the city that was buzzing with life, hundreds of humans carrying on with their daily lives as the sun set behind the towering buildings, as another day was coming to an end.

Raph sighed as guilt began to rise again in his chest. Leo was right. It was all his fault. If only he hadn't been so stupid and just looked behind him…their Sensei could be dead by now, and it would be all his fault.

He remembered the words his Sensei had told him that night after the scuffle with that Casey Jones punk.

_"I am here, my son…"_

"…I'm so sorry, Sensei…" he whispered into the sunset, somehow hoping that somewhere, his father could hear him.

A sudden thud form behind him caught Raph out of his thoughts. Raph lifted his head up and was about to turn around to investigate.

A firm hand came across his mouth, muffling his yelp of surprise as he was dragged backwards across the roof. 

* * *

"C'mon! You're letting him run right by you!" Mikey cried in exasperation. They were watching the well-known children's cartoon, 'The Tortoise and the Hare', and Michelangelo was taking it far too seriously, most likely to due with the fact that the turtle was losing. Donatello could only smile and roll his eyes at his brother.

"Can you believe this guy, Donnie? Don't just…Ninja kick the damn rabbit! Do something!"

"Technically, Mikey, it's a hare" Donnie began, going into what was known to his brothers as 'Geek Mode'. "You can tell by its size compared to the rabbit, and the hare have far larger ears and tails and are actually capable of walking whilst rabbits have to –"

"Donnie. ...it looks like a rabbit, hops like a rabbit, eats carrots like a rabbit...I'm calling it a rabbit." Mikey deadpanned.

Donnie scowled at his younger brother before he heard the front door open. Both turtles instantly shot up from the floor, pure ninja instincts kicking in as they drew their weapons.

Only when the familiar red head entered the living room did they lower their weapons and sigh in relief. With everything that had happened, it was only natural that they would be more on edge than usual. They could not be too careful anymore.

Both turtles relaxed at the familiar sight of April O'Neil as she strode happily into the room. Well, apart from Donatello that is, who began blushing as he waved at her awkwardly. "H-hey April!" he stuttered.

Michelangelo ran over to her and lifted her off her feet with a bear hug. She whooped with laughter as he spun her around. "Hiya, April! We saw your interview! You were totally awesome, sister!" he laughed as he finally set her down.

April grinned at the young turtle and hugged him back. "Thanks, Mikey!" she said, and dropped a kiss on his cheek as she went to put her coat away. Mikey and Donnie stood dumbfounded, Donnie staring at the spot where April kissed his little brothers' cheek.

"Dude, she totally kissed me! And she called me Mikey!" he said with a laugh, flexing his muscles and posing smugly. Donnie scowled jealously.

As April hung up her coat, Leo came out of her room and approached her hesitantly. "Hey, April. So…hear anything yet?"

April looked at him sadly. "Sorry Leo, not yet. They're gonna repeat the interview later on tonight, so we're just going to have to wait and see if it helps generate any new information. I asked them if they could call me here immediately if anyone calls the station."

Her heart felt heavy as she watched him visibly deflate, but he tried not to show his disappointment, attempting to hide it with a small but genuine smile of gratitude. "It's alright. Thanks, April. You did you're best."

April shook her head and flung herself forwards, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and resting her chin on his shoulder. She squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears from flowing. Leo stood there dumbfounded for a moment before his arms reflexively wrapped around her waist as he hugged her back.

"Don't worry, Leo. We will find him," she said firmly but reassuringly. "I promise you that."

Leo nodded non-verbally. He silently hoped she was right. The sooner they were reunited with their sensei, the better. And the sooner he could apologize to Raph…

April slowly released the blue banded turtle and smiled at him. He smiled back. She turned and looked at the other two turtles behind her, who beamed back also. It was then that she realized one turtle was missing. "…hey, where's Raphael?"

The turtles lost their smiles and glanced at each other. Leo looked to the side in shame, playing with the wraps on his hands idly. April did not miss the gesture and knew that something had gone down whilst she had been gone. She was about to ask when Donatello interjected.

"Ummm…he's up on the roof. Don't worry, though. He's just blowing off a little steam."

* * *

Raph landed with a thump on the roof, bruises appearing on his skin as he climbed to his hands and knees. He glared viciously at the Foot ninjas surrounding him. Training helped him cool off and to clear his head, but he did not fancy getting jumped and having the snot beaten out of him by a dozen of those guys in pajamas. How they had managed to sneak up on him, grab him, disarm him and then have the gall to beat him up was beyond him.

He did not know what they wanted, but he did not care; if they wanted a fight, they would get one!

He stood up shakily to his feet and got into a defensive stance. "Heh…is that all you've got?" he said with a cocky smirk, wiping the blood off his chin. "There's only a few of you ninja wannabe's out here. How do you expect to beat me?"

It was then that more Foot ninjas appeared, their numbers flooding the roof in a seemingly endless sea of black-robed figures as they surrounded the lone red turtle.

"Oh…good answer…" he said as he prepared himself for the worst.

_"I am so screwed"_ were his final thoughts before he charged into battle once again.

* * *

"Why's he on the roof? What happened?" April asked with concern. The boys glance at each other again, but Leo still refused to look April in the eye. "Well, I was going to give you guys a tour of the shop downstairs. Shall we go get him?" April asked, deciding to let the issue go for now.

Mikey was quick to shake his head, "Nah, I wouldn't. We should leave him alone for a little while. He'll be fine in a few minutes."

* * *

Raph had to admit as he hit the ground hard once again, that these 'armatures' were good.

Very good.

Especially in numbers.

He could barely knock one down and defend himself, for with every one down, another rose to take his place and beat him up some more. Even now, as he tried to get up again, they were kicking him and punching him all over. One managed to pick him up and throw him into the spinning back-kick of another. He spat out blood as he lay there on his knees.

He wasn't sure how long he could keep this up.

* * *

"Here we are. My aunts' Antique Store" April said with a smile as she turned on the lights. The turtles gasped and looked around them in wonder. There were tea pots, toys, lamps, music boxes, you name it; it was there. The ninja teens wandered around the store, picking up and inspecting various objects in awe and curiosity, especially Mikey, who picked up anything and everything that interested him, asking April countless questions such as "Ooh, what's this?" or "How does this work?" or "Ooh, what does _this_ button do…?"

That last question caused April's heart to leap a mile, for he was about to press the _big, shiny red button_ that would signal the fire brigade before she ran over and stopped him.

"Mikey, that button calls the fire brigade! And it even says 'Do _**NOT**_ Push Unless There Is a Fire'!" she scolded.

Mikey smiled sheepishly. "Oops. Sorry." April sighed and shook her head, and ushered him away from the big red button.

"April, this place has everything!" Donnie said, taking out his T-phone and snapping pictures of various objects around the room. He seemed absolutely fascinated at the assortment of old tools and devices, rusted and dusty from its long life on the shelves of this old shop.

April smiled at his enthusiasm. "It really does, doesn't it? I used to come in here and play 'detective' with my dad all the time. He would have me memorize the stuff on a shelf, then take an object off whilst my back was turned, and then have go and find it somewhere in the shop." She smiled fondly at the memory.

Donnie gazed at her reminiscing expression and smiled. "You're dad sounds like a great guy."

April smiled back at him. "Yeah. He really is…"

On the other side of the room, Leo was examining a shelf of various small statues of animals. His eyes locked upon a particular statue and he picked it up carefully in his large green hands.

It was a tiny statue of a family of four turtles gathered around a large, beautiful yellow flower. One of the turtles was slightly cracked on the top of his shell, and was in danger of being broken apart from the rest of the turtles.

A small, bitter laugh escaped his lips. "Heh…cruel irony…" he whispered.

He was so deep in thought that he did not notice that Michelangelo was slowly creeping up on him, with two large cymbals in his hands. Donatello and April saw this and covered their ears, but were unable to stop the grins that split their faces; this was going to be funny.

Spreading his arms out wide, Mikey slammed the cymbals together. Leonardo jumped and screamed in terror.

Laughter filled the shop.

* * *

Raph could barely stand now. His body was bruised and bleeding badly, and his breathing labored.

They just kept coming. They just kept hitting. He just kept _bleeding_.

"How many o' you guys…are there, huh?" he panted, his speech becoming slurred. He staggered to his feet one last time. He couldn't go down now. Not yet. If he went down they would go after his brothers and April.

He couldn't fail his family again.

Suddenly, another ninja landed in front of him. This one was different from the other soldiers; one of the main differences being that they were female. She looked at his bloody beaten form and smirked behind her mask.

He growled at her. "W-who…the heck…are you?" he panted.

She shifted her weight to the side and put a hand on her hip. "You're a strange looking one, aren't you? This town's more interesting than I thought. My name's Karai…" she said coolly, before her voice turned dark as she glared at him.

"…and I'll be your 'Grim Reaper' this evening." 

* * *

The turtles and April made their way back up the stairs and into her aunt's apartment. Leonardo had kept the turtle statue and put it in a box and hid it in his shell. He was sure April wouldn't mind if he borrowed it for a little while, would she?

"Hey, hasn't Raph been gone a long time?" April asked, "I'm starting to get worried."

"Yeah, me too" Mikey agreed. He turned to Donnie and asked, "Should we go look for him?"

Donnie shook his head and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, Mikey. I'm sure he'll be here any second now,"

Which was when Raphael came crashing through the skylight with a scream as his broken body fell to the floor in a pile of bloody limbs.

_**"RAPHAEL!"**_


	11. Chapter 11: The Battle

**Chapter 11: The Battle**

_**"RAPHAEL!"**_ Leo shrieked.

They all ran over frantically to the injured turtles' side. Donnie immediately scanned him for fatal injuries, but his body was far too bloody and bruised to properly tell. Leo tried to shake the unconscious turtle awake, but his efforts were unsuccessful. Mikey and April could do nothing but watch in shock. Mikey clung to April, his eyes wide and afraid as she held him back tightly.

The blood soaked into the carpet. Mikey had never seen so much blood in his life. And knowing that it was flowing out from the body of his older brother was too much to bear.

Leo desperately checked his brother for any signs of life. He checked his pulse, praying that he could find a heartbeat…

…there. It was faint, but it was there. His brother was still alive.

He stared at his hands and turned pale at the sight. They were coated in crimson liquid. Who could have done this? Who had done this to his little brother?

"Leo…?" Mikey's distressed voice snapped Leo out of his thoughts as he looked up to the panic-stricken faces of April and Mikey. "…is…is he…?"

"No, Mikey. He's alive…barely…" he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

His bloodied hands trembled in rage.

Just then, dozens upon dozens of Foot soldiers came hurtling through the windows and breaking down the doors, surrounding the turtles and their human friend from every corner. Instantly, Donnie, Leo and Mikey shot to their feet and formed a protective circle around April and their insentient brother, drawing their weapons and glaring at their foes, their eyes filled with malice towards the ones who had hurt their brother.

One of the soldiers came to the front and whipped out his nunchaku, striking them left and right in a flurry of movement, and then assumed a defensive stance.

Mikey stared at the soldier in awe. "Ah, a fellow 'Chucker', eh?" he said with a sly grin. The other Foot soldiers glanced at each other in confusion.

Michelangelo then used his own nunchaku to do a series of showy tricks, flipping the weapon into a figure of eight so quickly that it became a blur. He stopped and returned to his defensive position. The soldier with the nunchaku tilted his head in surprise. He then attempted to use his weapons superior to his opponent, flipping the weapon over his shoulders and around his waist.

Leo, Donnie and April glanced at each other in bewilderment, but never moved from their stances. Were they really having a nunchaku contest right now?

As the Foot soldier finished, feeling proud of himself in thinking that he had bested the turtle, Mikey simply whipped out the weapon and began casually spinning it by the metal chord on his right index finger. He pretended to look bored as the soldier stared at him in awe. "Keep practicing!" he laughed.

Donnie then back flipped over Mikey's head and brought his Bo staff down hard upon the soldiers' head, knocking him out cold.

Then all hell broke loose.

April had never seen the turtles fight before, but what she witnessed before her was more than she could have ever imagined. Their movements were quick and precise, never wavering, never halting, and always striking. If she was not in fear for the lives of Raphael who lay on her lap as well as her own and of the remaining three turtles who fought to protect them, she would have been further amazed by their skills.

But the problem was these ninjas were good too. Very good. And her boys had not yet had any experience with fighting against other ninjas before, apart from Raphael. But he was out of commission…and they were heavily outnumbered.

"Donnie! Mikey! These guys might know where they're holding Splinter!" Leo shouted over his shoulder, "So don't knock them all out!"

"I don't think that'll be a problem, Leo!" Donnie shouted back, grunting as a soldier attempted to grab him and pull him to the ground. He was able to grip him by the hand and flip him over his shoulder, but the attack left him open for other Foot soldiers to seize his arms and head and shove it into a fish tank. As soon as they lifted his head back up, he spat water into the face of one, and kicked away the other.

"Hey, Donnie! Something 'Fishy' going on over there, bro?" called Mikey from the other side of the room as he flipped out his hidden Kusarigama chain and took out several more ninjas. Leo and Donnie groaned.

"Mikey, even for you that was bad," Donnie deadpanned whilst dodging several shuriken that narrowly missed his head.

"Oh c'mon, Donnie! That was good! You've gotta give me that one!"

"Guys! Keep your head in the game!" Leo hissed as he sliced away another foot soldier. He concentrated hard and let his muscles settle into that familiar rhythm of swordplay. He continuously sliced at soldiers left and right, but they just kept coming.

"I just wanna keep my head on my body!" Donnie retorted as he dodged a swing of a sword from a soldier, before jabbing him hard with his staff directly in the unmentionables. He chortled as he watched the soldier go down like rock, groaning in pain as he held his midsection. His mask slipped off his head, revealing his face. Donnie gasped.

"Hey! April, It's that kid Danny!" he exclaimed.

April gaped in shock. _Danny_ was a _ninja_? Her friend was trying to kill her and the turtles?

"Danny?! How…what…how could you?!" she exclaimed. "You've been helping the Foot Clan in robbing and hurting people?! How could you do that to them?! How could you lie to your family?!"

Frowning, Danny got up and ran past Donatello, running towards Michelangelo who was distracted by another Foot member. "Sorry, April. It's nothing personal. I have a loyalty."

Danny managed to throw Mikey onto his shell and planted a foot on his chest to hold him down, bringing up his blade as he prepared to impale the turtle. Donnie immediately ran over to his brothers' attacker and took him out with a single, hard blow to the head.

No matter who that traitor was, he was not going to hurt another one of his brothers as long as he was still breathing.

Still lying on the floor, Mikey had a brilliant idea. "Hey, Donnie! 'Wheel of Fortune', dude!"

Donnie beamed down at his younger brother and used his Bo staff to spin the orange clad turtle in a circle. Using his legs and whilst spinning his nunchaku at the same time, he was able to trip over and knock out several Foot soldiers that got too close. He whooped and cheered jubilantly. "Whoo-hoo! Nunchuck-tastic!" He cried.

"Bisentos! Now!" called out a Foot Soldier to his comrades, to which several more came flooding into the apartment holding long, axe-like weapons.

"I guess they're not game show fans!" Donnie laughed as he helped his brother to his feet.

"And I thought everybody loved Vanna!" Mikey laughed back. They looked to find more soldiers coming at them with large axe weapons and swinging them fiercely in their direction. The turtles were barely able to doge them in time.

"California Roll!" Donnie cried. Mikey understood and the two immediately rolled away from the offending soldiers. However they never stopped swinging, and only ended up hitting the floorboards, which began to creak.

"Dude, what a spaz!" Mikey quipped as he dodged another swing.

"Tell me about it!" Donnie replied, spinning his staff skilfully on his shell, knocking away any soldier who came in too close. "Good thing these guys aren't lumberjacks, huh Mikey?!"

"No joke! The only thing – whoa! – That would be safe in the woods – yikes! – would be the trees!"

Donnie looked up sharply and gasped as he caught sight of yet more Foot soldiers preparing to jump into the fray. Donnie felt the floor beneath him creak under the weight. If they were to jump in now, the floor would most certainly collapse.

Not good.

"Uh, Guys!" Donnie cried to the Foot soldiers, though he knew it was futile, "I'm not so sure if this is, uh, structurally speaking such a good time for, um, your buddies to drop in – "

Predictably, they ignored Donnie's plea and launched themselves into the apartment, landing hard on the breaking floorboards. Donnie and Mikey acquired a defensive stance.

The floor boards gave an ominous creak. Donnie and Mikey shared a nervous glance.

"Oh boy," whimpered Donnie.

Everyone on that floor plummeted down with a scream as the floorboards finally gave in from the weight, and landed on the floor of the Antique Store, smashing several precious items as they landed, brick and wood flying everywhere, and dust filling the room.

"Uh…dudes, wipe-out!" Mikey coughed along with his brothers as they all stood up and dusted themselves off. Luckily, they and April seemed uninjured from the fall.

Raphael, however, was a different story. He still showed no signs of waking up. In fact, he seemed worse than when he first landed in the now destroyed apartment. April checked his pulse. It was barely there now, and his breathing had become shallow.

She feared the worst.

Suddenly, the front door swung open, revealing yet more Foot Soldiers flooding into the tight spaced room. The turtles groaned collectively.

"How many more of you freaking Foot ninjas are there?!" cried Donnie, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.

"Oh, don't worry. You won't live long enough to meet the rest of them."

The turtles looked up to see a female ninja standing confidently in front of the other soldiers. She had short black and yellow dyed hair, and piercing amber eyes that stared at them conceitedly.

Her eyes met Leonardo's. His heart momentarily skipped a beat.

Despite the fact that she was most likely about to dispatch them mercilessly, he couldn't help but think…

_'…whoa…'_

Karai looked around at her fallen soldiers, who had all been knocked out after the fall. She looked back to the turtles. "You managed to take out half of my soldiers. Not bad," she said nonchalantly.

Leo faltered. "U-uh…thanks?" he stuttered.

Karai smirked. "You guys are good…but not good enough. Men, _hayaku_!" Karai thrust her hand forward. Her men charged headlong, and the turtles once again engaged in battle.

Karai charged for Leo, her short blade drawn and poised to strike. Leo brought up his katanas to block, and the two quickly engaged in a deadly dance to the death.

As the fight recommenced, some of the soldiers tried to advance on the fallen Raphael, but April O'Neil would not allow that. She refused to sit idly by and let them take him. She stood up and vigorously whacked the soldiers away from him with a large plank of wood she found lying next to her.

Any ninja that dared to try and touch him would face her wrath.

Donnie and Mikey were struggling gravely. The space was far too small, and the number of Foot far too many. They were now being horribly slashed and beaten to the point of bleeding. There was no way they could keep this up for long.

Meanwhile, Leo and Karai were still locked in combat, Karai beginning to gain the upper hand. Leo was tiring out, and was now bleeding slightly from having received many cuts and bruises from her endless onslaught, but knowing that the lives of his family were on his shoulders drove him onwards.

He finally managed to pin Karai to a wall as he snarled at her, "Are you the one behind all this?! What have you done to my brother?! _Where is our Sensei?!_"

Karai looked him straight in the eye and smirked coldly. "You ask a lot of question's for someone who's about to die."

Without warning, Karai shoved her knee into Leo's stomach, then head-butted him, causing him to fall backwards and land sorely on his shell. She planted a foot on his chest to pin him down, and brought her short sword to his neck. He lay frozen in place.

"But for the record," she continued, "I'm not the one behind all of this. My name's Karai, by the way. It's been fun fighting with you, turtles. Too bad the fun's all over...well, for you anyways. My master only needs proof that you were destroyed."

She raised her sword and prepared to bring it down to his neck…but hesitated. She looked into his eyes. They were filled with a mixture of pure rage and fear…and sadness. She did not know why or how, but she could feel his sorrow.

It was the sorrow you felt when you knew you had failed.

She could relate.

_"HEY!_"

All was suddenly still as a new figure came into the room. All heads turned to the hooded masked figure stood in the doorway, which held a hockey stick in his hand, and Raphael's missing Sais in his belt.

"You guys mind telling me what you're doing to my little green pal over there?" he said, gesturing his stick to the unconscious turtle against the wall. He then caught sight of the red head guarding him with a wooden plank and whistled. "Who's the babe?"

April's mouth fell wide open in outrage. _"Babe?!"_ she exclaimed in disgust.

"Who the heck is that guy?" Donnie asked no one in particular.

"Josh Peck on steroids?" Mikey guessed with a shrug.

"Men! Attack!" Karai commanded, and the Foot soldiers charged at Casey. He knocked them away one by one until he reached Karai. He caught her off guard and whacked her hard across the head, knocking her off Leonardo. Casey helped the injured and dazed turtle to his feet and picked up the two swords which he was certain were his, and handed them to him.

"You okay there, green dude?" he asked as the fighting commenced once again.

Leo shook his head to clear off the daze, and replied, "Uh…yeah. Thanks!" He could barely think straight. Though, then again, who could after being only seconds away from death?

"No prob, pal. Who are the freaks in the black pajamas, anyways?" Casey asked as he swung his bat at another Foot soldier.

"Long story short; they wanna kill us."

"Huh, okay... Then let's get _busy_!" Casey spun himself around in a corkscrew motion, knocking out several Foot members all at once. "_Goongala_!" he cried out victoriously.

However, instead of getting better, the situation only took a turn for the worst when a Foot soldier, who had swung his axe at Mikey's head but narrowly missed, accidentally knocked over a lit oil lamp.

The store became ablaze in seconds. Soon they would all be engulfed in flames.

In all of the chaos of Foot soldiers fleeing from the scene or still fighting the turtles, one managed to stab Donatello in the leg. Donnie shrieked in agony and fell to the ground, blood pumping profusely from the wound. Leo heard his brothers' screams and immediately ran to his side.

"Donnie!" he cried fearfully as he carefully helped his brother to his feet. He stared wide eyed at the dripping wound. It was not deep, but it could still be fatal if left to fester. "Donnie, can you stand? Are you alright?"

Donnie was panting and coughing from the smoke, but he still managed to give his brother a shaky nod. "L-Leo…we have…to get out of here…or we'll burn alive…"

Mikey came limping to his brother's side and helped support Donnie despite his own injured state. He looked to Leo, his eyes wide and afraid. "What do we do, Leo?!"

Leo scanned the burning shop frantically for any way of escape. But as he found that all exits were blocked or destroyed from falling and burning debris, Leo began to do the one thing he had not done since he had taken up the role and burden as the leader…

Leo panicked.

April skimmed the shop until she spotted a small door in the corner of the shop. She dragged Raph to the door and kicked it open hard with her foot. "Guys! Over here!" She called, "There's a trap door! We can get out through here! Hurry!"

The turtles immediately headed for where April kneeled near the doorway. She supported Donnie as Leo and Mikey carried the comatose Raphael through the trap door. April looked back at the boy who was still fighting against the Foot soldiers that got too close to them. "Come on! We have to get out of here!" she cried to him.

"Get out of here!" he called back, "I'll cover your backs! I'll catch up!"

Hesitantly, she nodded and followed Leo and Mikey through the door, still supporting a bleeding Donatello.

Casey swung furiously at the Foot Ninjas, knocking them away from the trap door. They were not going to hurt anyone else on his watch. He saw what these guys had done to the turtles. It was brutal and merciless. They were almost killed.

No one dies under the watch of Casey Jones.

He knocked out the last soldier, slamming his hand against the 'big red button' that began to blare out noisily before bolting to the door just as a burning piece of wood fell from the roof and barricaded it. "Bye guys! Gotta run!" he called as he vanished after the turtles.

Police and Fire truck sirens could be heard coming down the streets.

"Ninja! _Kieru_!" commanded Karai as her ninjas began to flee the scene, others carrying the unconscious and injured out of the now burning building. As she escaped the building and leapt to the rooftops, she scowled.

_'Father is not going to like this'_ she thought as she ran into the night back to the hideout.


	12. Chapter 12: Failure

**Chapter 12: Failure**

Michelangelo helped Leonardo carry the now unconscious Donatello away from the blazing structure, closely followed by April and Casey as they carried Raphael. Casey glanced at April through his mask and asked hastily, "What now, red?!"

April glanced around until she spotted her father's old van parked on the kerb farther away. "There! We can use my dad's van! Hurry!" she cried as she and Casey hauled Raph to the van with Leo, Donnie and Mikey in tow.

April tugged open the back doors and let the turtles climb in first before carrying Raph and laying him carefully in Leo's lap. They shut the doors and she and Casey ran to the front and hopped into the van, Casey in the driver's seat.

It was only then that April realized that they did not have the keys to the van; they were still inside the burning apartment. She cursed under her breath and slapped a hand over her face. How could she have been so stupid?

However, Casey had pulled off his mask and was already fumbling around with the wires underneath, and with a low hum, the van sparked to life. Casey grinned, revealing the gap in his teeth as he grabbed the wheel and began to drive off.

April stared at him incredulously. "How do you…?"

Casey winked at her. "'Cus I'm Casey Jones, babe!"

April stared at him a little longer before shaking her head in disbelief. She stuck her head out the window and stared at the burning apartment, and the shop that had held so many memories for her as it crumbled and fell to the ground in a fiery heap. Tears fell from her eyes as they drove away. Why? How could this happen? Her Aunts' home was burning down, and one of her closest human friends had turned out to be one of the Ninjas in the Clan that were trying to kill her new friends…

…why her? Why them?

She felt a hand on her right shoulder. She turned and looked at Casey, his eyes never straying from the road ahead of him, but his expression full of sympathy he could not voice. "…We gotta find a safe place to hide. These guys need help…" he said sadly as he glanced back at the four turtles sat silently in the back of the van. April turned her gaze to them also and looked upon them forlornly.

Donatello lay comatose in Michelangelo's lap. The bleeding had stopped, but the wound was beginning to fester, and his body was bruised badly. Mikey was gently stroking his brother's head. He was in no better condition, with his body discolored all over, blood trickling from a wound on his right arm and a long bloody scrape down his left leg. Tears were silently dripping down his beaten face as he stared down at Donnie.

Leonardo sat on the left side of the van, clutching Raphael's body to his chest as he stared blankly at the floor. Like his brothers, he was also severely injured with blood dripping down his face from an injury on his forehead, and his plastron was scarred and cracked in many places. Bu he did not care for his injuries. He simply stared down at the turtle in his arms as tears began to flow freely from his eyes.

How could he have let this happen to his family? How could he have let this happen to Raph?

He checked his pulse again. His eyes widened.

He was dying. His own brother had been through hell and was now dying in his very arms, and he was to blame for all of it. If only he had not lost his temper with him, he would still have a chance. He would still be with them…

Leonardo had no right to call himself a leader. He had no right to call himself a brother.

Leo squeezed his eyes shut as he buried his face into the crook of Raph's neck, hugging his broken body close to him.

He silently let himself cry.

Mikey glanced at his older brother as he let the tears flow. He could hear quiet gasps as he cried into Raph's shoulder. He then looked at April and Casey, his baby blue eyes distraught and afraid.

April stared back. He could feel his pain. His family was falling apart right before his very eyes. First their Sensei, and now one by one, his brothers were breaking, dying, drifting away from him, and all for what? What had these four boys done to deserve this?

Who had they ever hurt or done to anyone that would cause them to rip their family apart?

April steeled her expression as she wiped away her tears. She would make sure that whoever was behind all of this would pay dearly. She would personally make them hurt as much as they were now.

She turned back to Casey. "We can go to my Aunt's old farm house in the country. I'll show you the way. We'll be safe there."

Casey nodded at her once before turning back to the road and driving away into the night, following the red haired girls' directions. He had no idea what he had gotten himself into, but he knew for certain now that he was a part of it, he would make sure these four turtles made it out until the very end. 

* * *

Shredder swung his fist across the rat's face, watching coldly as he coughed up blood. The damned rat had refused to speak since he had arrived, but he would not allow him to stay silent any longer. "Who are these…freaks?!" he demanded as he towered over the rat who knelt bound in chains before him, "How do they know how to fight this way?!"

The rat did not respond. He only looked up at him and glared him straight in the eye, a deep, unadulterated loathing burning deep within his dark red orbs.

Shredder growled as he unsheathed his blades from his gauntlets and pointed its honed tips to Splinters' throat. "You. Will. _ANSWER ME, RAT!_" he bellowed, as he brought the blades closer to the rat's throat, nearly pricking his skin.

It still did not respond, but only continued to glare at The Shredder.

Shredder growled again. He wanted to kill this filthy rat himself, but he knew that he held valuable information about these turtles, so if he was going to destroy them, he could not until this rat told him everything he needed to know. But he could still torture the creature into submission.

He sheathed his blades and once again swung his fist into the rat's face, causing him to topple over onto his side. He planted a boot to the side of his face and pressed down hard. "Then lay there, filthy vermin. Until you _**perish**_ in your own _**blood**_!" he snarled as he lifted his foot off his face and kicked the rat firmly in the stomach. The rat curled up in pain as The Shredder stalked away.

He paused momentarily to glare down at Karai, who had been stood there with her arms folded across her chest, watching the entire time. She refused to meet his eyes as she glared at the floor in shame. Shredder continued on his way, leaving Karai and the mutant rat alone.

She watched as the rat struggled back into his kneeling position, for his hands were still bound behind him. His face held many bruises and his cheek and forehead was dripping with blood from where The Shredder had hit him. He was breathing heavily as he stared at the floor.

Karai looked away from him and growled under her breath. "_Katte ni shiro_!" she cursed aloud and kicked at a box next to her. She slumped to the floor and rested her arms on her knees as he glared at the ground once again.

How could she have failed? It was a simple task; find the turtles, and bring them to him, dead or alive. So why, when she had the perfect opportunity, did she hesitate when about to kill the blue banded turtle? Was it because she had never actually killed before? Or was it because she could feel his pain and fear, and felt some kind of sympathy for him? She did not know, but it had cost her dearly.

She had failed her mission. She had failed and shamed her father.

"…how can a face so young, wear so many burdens?"

Karai was startled slightly at the abrupt voice. She turned to her left and saw the rat staring at her with weary, yet curious eyes. Had it just spoken to her?

"So…you can talk," she said, shifting herself to face the rat. It had finally decided to talk. But why to her? Because it saw she was upset? She did not need pity from a mutant rat.

"Yes," he replied, "and I can also listen. Some say that the path from inner turmoil begins with a friendly ear. My ears are open...if you care to use them."

Karai scoffed at his offer. "I don't think so. You're a hostage, not a physiatrist" she retorted. Surprisingly however, the rat only smiled warmly at her. It felt like the smile a father would give to his child.

"That may be so…" he mused, "tell me…what is your name?"

Karai hesitated. Was he trying to get information about her, or just striking a casual conversation? It seemed rather strange of him to do so, given the fact that she was the daughter of his captor, and would have been the killer of his little turtle friends. Shrugging her shoulders, she decided to take the chance.

"…my name's Karai."

This seemed to please the rat as he nodded in understanding. "I see…and do you have no one to go to, Karai? No parents?"

Karai turned her face away from him. "My father…all he cares about is power. I'm not even his real daughter. He just adopted me from some run down orphanage when I was six, then trained me to become his 'ultimate right hand man' so to speak. He could care less about me."

The rat grunted in sympathy. "...even though your father's intentions upon this city may be cruel" he supposed, "I doubt that he does not care about you."

Karai looked back at the old rat and sneered. "Oh really? How could someone like _you_ possibly know?"

"All parents care for their children…" the rat trailed off and lowered his head to the ground. As Karai gazed at him, she could see the sadness in his eyes.

She realized in that moment that this rat may have been much more than just a talking mutant. And those turtles…they really meant something dear to him. She could see it in his eyes when he glared fiercely at The Shredder before; they were full of anger, but also of pain and sorrow. And now, as she stared at his hunched form, she could feel…

…anguish.

Slowly, Karai stood up, taking one last look at the rat before walking away from him, leaving him once again on his own. She had some serious thinking to do.

In the silence of the room that confined him, Splinter let a single tear slip down his face.

_'My precious sons…I pray that you are alive and safe…'_

* * *

After a long night of endless driving, the weary group finally pulled up in the dirt driveway of the farmhouse. The house was clearly very old, paint crusting off the rotting wood, weeds and dissimilar plants growing from beneath the roof and floorboards. But overall, it was still standing strong after all these years. There was even an old barn around the back. All the animals had been sold long ago of course, but wildlife from the forest had decided to make themselves at home nearby.

"Is that it?" Michelangelo asked, craning his neck so he could see the old structure clearly.

"Yeah" April replied, "my aunts' old farmhouse. She moved out a while ago, but comes back every now and then to check up on the old place. I used to come here with my family all the time and just run around in the barn all day…"

She turned around to look at Leo, who still held Raph in his lap. She had never seen him look so utterly lost. "…how's Raph doing?" she asked gently.

Leo looks up, his blue eyes weary and broken, and replied forlornly, "Not so good, April. Still no signs of waking up..."

"Don't worry," declared Casey determinedly as he parked the van in the driveway, "we'll fix you guys up. Rad Red over there will be just fine, too."

Leo looked to Casey. "Um, Casey Jones, was it?" he asked hesitantly, "I just want to...thank you...for saving our shells back there...we never would have made it out of there if it weren't for you..."

Casey turned and gave Leo a 'thumbs up'. "Hey, no worries pal. Just gotta do what ya gotta do, am I right?"

Leo nodded and smiled in appreciation.

Next to him, Mikey gently shook Donnie on the shoulder. Donnie awoke unsteadily, rubbing his eyes with his large hands. God, he hadn't ached this much since he electrocuted himself as a child; and even that was not as painful as what he felt now.

As Mikey helped him into a sitting position, he looked toward April and Casey. "A-are we there yet?" he yawned.

April smiled with a nod. "Yeah, Donnie. We're there." 

* * *

It was a bit of a melee to get everyone settled in; Casey and Leonardo had to hastily carry Raphael up the stairs and into the bathroom to get his injuries tended to. Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo and Casey himself also needed medical attention, which sent April digging around in the old cupboards frantically for said medical supplies. To her liberation, her Aunt had left her Emergency Kit in the basement. They attended to Raph first, due to his state being worse than his brothers. Luckily, they had made it in time before any infection could settle in, and with a little time, Raph would hopefully be on the road to recovery.

Whilst Mikey was nursing Donnie's injured leg to his exact instructions, April began thinking of what was going to happen next. They could not stay here forever, and her family would be so worried about her. What would they say when they found the burned down apartment…?

Just then, Casey came down the stairs, a bloody cloth in his hands and his face drenched in sweat. "Just fixed up Blue's head. He should be fine now, but Red…I dunno…" he muttered uncertainly, wiping the sweat off his brow as he made his way to the kitchen to wash his hands.

April followed him in, a grateful smile gracing her lips. They had not known each other for more than a few hours, but he had already done so much for her and the turtles, and seemed completely unfazed by the fact they were talking mutant turtles.

"Thank you, Casey. It means a lot that you would help us like this. I mean, you don't even know us and you -"

Casey held up a hand to stop her and smiled. "It's no big deal. It's the least I could do…so, what do we do now?"

"I was just thinking that," April said with a thoughtful frown, "I need to call my family to tell them I'm alright, and also about Danny, but that's going to take some serious lying, because…" she cocked her head, motioning the turtles in the living room, "…y'know… and also, I've got some walking to do."

"Walking? What for?"

"Our nearest neighbor lives about four miles away," she said as she began walking out of the kitchen, past Mikey and Donnie in the living room and headed for the front door, with Casey in tow, "I need to get to a phone; we don't have one here, the guys got their phones destroyed back at the apartment, and mine's just died, and the van needs fixing, so…"

"Well, I'll go with you then," Casey offered.

April smiled, but waved him off, "Thanks Casey, but no thanks. I can think I can walk by myself."

However, Casey seemed to not approve as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I dunno, April. With all the crap goin' down right now, I don't think a pretty lady like you should be goin' out alone like – oops."

Casey stopped abruptly as April glared at him with her hands planted on her hips. Donnie and Mikey watched with wide eyes at the present scene before them; they had seen enough movies and soap operas to know that this was going to be painful.

"_Excuse me_?" she hissed, "Do you think I'm unable to take care of myself just because I'm a girl? Did you take classes in Insensitivity?!"

"H-hey," Casey protested, holding his hands up in surrender, "I was just tryin' to break it to you easy that it ain't safe – "

"Well you failed miserably!" she shouted.

"Hey, listen Broadzilla, you wouldn't be here if it weren't for me!" he barked back.

"And what do you want? Do you want a 'thank you'?!"

"What? No, it's _me_ who should thank _you_ for that privilege, right?"

"Fine..._Thank You_!" April yelled as she spun on her heels and headed for the front door again, this time without Casey.

"No, thank _**you**_!" he yelled back as he made his way back to the kitchen, this time without April.

"You're welcome!"

"No, _you're_ welcome!"

"_Fine then!_"

"_**Fine**_!"

Both doors slammed shut simultaneously. Mikey and Donnie sat in silence for a time, glancing back and forth at where the two bickering older teens left through.

Finally, Mikey broke the silence; "...are they in love, dude?"

Donnie stared at him flatly, before shaking his head and sighing.


	13. Chapter 13: Coping

**A/N: If you have already seen the movie, you will know that I have added a little scene with Mikey. I felt that they should have at least mentioned how Mikey was handling everything. We only saw him with a punching bag, but that's about it. So I thought I'd develop that a little more and introduce another little character!**

**Remember to review! I OWN NOTHING BTW!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Coping**

The skies were clear that night, the stars glittering lustrously in the black coated blanket that enclosed their heads. The many forest animals cold be hears scuffling and skittering across the farm grounds, no doubt hunting for their next unsuspecting meal.

Inside the old farmhouse, April sat at her fathers' old work desk with a slightly worn, moth-eaten diary in her hands. With a pen she found lying alone in a drawer, she flipped open the diary and began to write on the next clean page;

_**"It's strange being back on the old farm. Even after all these years, it still feels like home. My amazing new friends – no – my amazing new brothers, have suffered their first real defeat. That's bad enough, but they've also lost the chance to find their Sensei…and I'm sure that hurts them all more than anything else.**_

"Each of them deals with his problems in his own way. Donatello has found someone to latch onto…"

* * *

"…Not even close, Zip Neck" said Donatello nonchalantly as he sat in an old truck, idly playing with his mask tails as he watched Casey work. Donnie had decided earlier that day since his leg had healed up nicely (thanks to Mikey) to fix the old machine that lay dead in the barn to keep his mind away from the troubles that plagued his family and his mind.

When Casey had found him alone, he had asked him if he needed some help. Despite himself (and his sudden rise of intense jealousy), Donnie had agreed to let him work on the tractor with him, as long as they took in turns. They had engaged in a friendly, but very random discussion on the concept of abusive relationships, whilst also engaging in an 'A-to-Z Insult Contest'.

"So, Bella and Werewolf boy didn't get together and live happily ever after?" Casey asked from under the truck hood.

"No way Atomic Mouth. Edward was 'apparently' her main man. I think they got married and had a kid, but the Werewolf guy somehow 'marked' her as his, but I don't get it, nor do I think it's physically possible for me to believe Vampires can sparkle."

"Edward was a douchebag, Barfarooni!"

"You're the douchebag, Camel-Breath!" Donnie countered with a grin.

"Dome-Head!" Casey laughed.

Donnie gasped in offence as he put a hand on his bald green head and pouted. "Elf-Lips!" he retorted.

Casey smirked as he got out from under the hood and dusted his greasy hands on his ripped jeans. "Okay, let's see if this transplant worked…Fungoid."

Donnie nodded, preparing himself as he clicked his seatbelt on. "Here we go…uh, what letter are we on again?"

"Uh…'G'"

"Okay. Ready, Gack-Face?"

"I'm ready, Hose-Brain!"

Casey shut the hood as the truck roared to life. With a yelp of surprise, Donnie grabbed the wheel as the truck zoomed headlong, with Casey diving to the ground, barely able to get out of the way in time. The truck burst through the barn doors and rammed into a large pile of hay. The truck finally came to a stop, half buried in horse hay as Donnie climbed out, spitting and spluttering the straw from his mouth.

"Well…it worked," Donnie breathed as he dusted himself off. He turned to Casey and flashed a gap tooth grin. "Nice job, huh?"

Casey only replied by throwing a dirty towel to the purple clad turtles' face.

* * *

_**"Leonardo, meanwhile, has been keeping a constant vigil with Raphael…"**_

* * *

April walked into the old bathroom that night. Leonardo was sat in a chair near the door, hunched over with his elbows on his knees and his head hung low. The bleeding from his head injury had receded after Casey's expert care, but bruises and scars were still visible. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder. He slowly looked up to meet her sympathetic eyes.

He looked so broken and lost that it tore at April's heart inside.

She glanced at Raphael, who lay comatose in the bathtub; Casey thought it would be good if they kept him in there to wash off the blood crusted wounds. She walked over to his prone form, kneeling down to his level and examined his injuries. They were healing all right, but he had yet to show any signs of waking up. They no longer knew if he would, but they had to keep optimistic. She stroked his head and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

She got up and walked back to Leo. "He'll be okay," she whispered as she bent over, gently cupping his face in her hands and kissing his forehead. "He's Raph. He's tough."

Leo watched as April exited the bathroom and returned to her room. He then got up from his chair and walked over to his insentient brother, kneeling down and leaning on the edge of the bathtub, resting his chin in his arms. He gazed at his brother with desolate eyes. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get those harsh words that he said to him out of his head…

_"Why do you have to act like such a __**jerk**__ all the time?!"_

"It _**IS**__ your fault, you idiot! None of this would have ever happened if it weren't for you!"_

"Go Ahead! We don't _**need**__ you!"_

If Raphael never woke up, those unforgiving words would be the last thing he would remember of his older brother. He undoubtedly must have thought that Leo hated him…

Leo rested his head against his younger brothers'. "Raph...I am so sorry..." he whispered, as another tear rolled down his cheek and landed softly onto the red clad turtles' sleeping face.

* * *

_**"I was really worried about Michelangelo. I hadn't seen him come out of the barn much unless it was for food or to check up on his brothers, which at first wasn't often. I don't even remember hearing him laugh at all during the first few days, and for him, that scares me.**_

However, I think that a new friend of his was able to bring him out of his shell…"

* * *

Michelangelo was sweating profusely as he kicked and punched and swung at his makeshift punching bag. Only Raphael had ever trained this aggressively before, but if he were to never wake up, Mikey decided it was time for him to take his older brothers' place if need be.

He had to become stronger for his family. He had to keep them together somehow.

He performed a final spinning back-kick on the bag which sent it flying and smashing against the barn door. Panting heavily, Mikey fell to his knees and wiped the sweat off his brow. His own injuries had barely healed yet, and they were in danger of reopening, but he had to keep training. He had to become stronger. He had failed to protect his brother because he was too weak. He never focused, he never fought to his fullest, and he never took anything seriously. That was going to change.

It was time for Michelangelo to grow up.

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft meow next to him. He looked down and spotted an orange cat with emerald green eyes staring up in curiosity at the giant turtle. She padded up to him and began brushing her furry head against his leg, purring softly.

Mikey stared down at the cat, his first but small smile in days finally reaching his lips. Try as he might, he could never resist an adorable kitty like this one.

He gently picked her up and held her up to his face. She seemed to like this gesture, and she rubbed her wet nose against his. Mikey giggled as he rested the orange cat in his lap, stroking her auburn fur softly. His smile began to fade as he stared into her eyes…those were like Raph's eyes; fierce and angry, but held a tenderness inside.

"…you have nice eyes," he said sadly, "just like my big brother…do you have any big brothers?"

The cat tilted her head to the side. She pawed idly at the orange clad turtles' large green hands.

"…didn't think so. I've got three big brothers. Donnie's one smart dude, and invents a lot of cool stuff. Leo's our team leader, and he loves to make cheesy heroic one-liners. And Raph…he always liked to hit stuff. He was a fun dude to hang out with. He was always game for a prank or two or something…but he and Leo were always fighting…I guess you're lucky. You don't have to worry about them always fighting or one of them getting hurt because you weren't strong enough to stop it…"

The cat looked up at his sad baby blue eyes as a single tear rolled down his freckled cheek.

"…that's why I can't act like a kid anymore" Mikey sniffed, scrubbing across his face with his arm as he wiped away the tears, "I've gotta get stronger so I can protect the rest of my family, and then find my dad…if he's even still alive…" He looked down at the cat. "…what do you think I should do?"

The cat meowed and leapt up onto Mikey's shoulder and nuzzled his head. She looked deep into his sad eyes intensely, as if to say…

_'…Smile…'_

Slowly, but surely, Mikey's mouth formed into a full-fledged grin. This cat actually understood him?! It was a magic cat!

And for the first time since they arrived at the farm, he began to laugh.

The cat meowed in what Mikey could only perceive as victory, and then proceeded to lick the turtles' face continually. Mikey laughed harder as he tried to take the cat off his face, but only ended up on his back, rolling around in the dry feed as he tried to suppress the giggles that now plagued him.

"Looks like I got my own 'Cat-Therapist'!" he laughed as the cat padded onto his stomach and nuzzled his face.

As Mikey lay in the straw with his new feline companion, he realized that if he were to change, no one would be there to keep their family together. Donnie was on his way to completely isolating himself, and Leo was almost completely broken from what had happened to Raph, blaming himself over and over again. If Casey and April hadn't stepped in, he would have lost them forever. And if those two wouldn't stop arguing…

…someone had to be there to throw the water balloons!

It was his smile, his optimism and childlike playfulness that had kept things in the lair happy when things went awry. If a storm hit and flooded the sewers, it was Mikey who would always cheer his brothers up if their belongings ever got messed up.

If Leo was stressed out after a training session with Splinter or had another fight with Raph, Mikey would be there to sit by him and give him his 'world famous' "Mikey Hugs" to get him smiling again. And more often than not, it worked.

If Donnie wanted someone to test out or look at his latest creations, Mikey was the first to offer. Seven times out of ten, he would accept with his customary grateful gaped toothed smile.

If Raph ever wanted to play video games, spar, or even play a few pranks on the others, Dr Prank-enstien was on the case. And they always had a blast doing it every time, much to their brothers' expense.

If Mikey were to change now, no one would be happy…

Mikey decided with a smile as he curled up in the straw with his new friend, that he would stay a kid, just for a little while longer.

He just had to keep hoping that his hot headed brother would pull through okay.

* * *

_**"And then there's Casey Jones; a nine-year-old trapped in an seventeen-year-olds' body. He might almost be cute if it weren't for that pig-headedness…"**_

* * *

Casey was sat on the swing bench on the porch, leisurely eating an apple he picked from the nearby tree. April stepped outside, her hands, hair and face coated in filth as she tried to scrub it off with a wash cloth.

"Donnie? Donatello?!" she called.

Casey smirked; looks like she needed something fixing. Now was his chance.

He stood up and dusted himself off. "Uh, he's out with Mikey, exercising…uh, doing something together in the field…I dunno" he lied; in reality, Donnie was still in the driveway adding more parts to Aprils' fathers' old van and Mikey was in the field playing with his new cat friend.

"So you, um, want some help?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head casually.

April could tell that he was lying, but also wanted to help. So she decided to humour him for the time being. "I don't know…" she said coolly, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"I'm your man," he urged, "I'm Mr Fix-It!"

April smiled. Maybe he was trying to make amends or just trying to flirt with her, but she found it rather cute either way. "Okay, then. Let's go."

"Alright, lead the way, toots."

April stopped dead in her tracks. She turned and stared at him with a grim expression. "Toots?" she growled.

"Uh, Babe?" he tried again. April only planted her hands on her hips.

"Sweetcakes? Oh, Princess...!"

She narrowed her eyes deadly.

"You wanna throw me a clue here? I'm drowning."

"You know what?" April said irritably, "That's ok. I'll take care of it myself."

"That's up to you," Casey replied, holding up his hands in surrender, "Just don't come around asking for my help anymore."

April took a threatening step towards the vigilante and glared him straight in the eye. "I wouldn't ask for your help," she hissed slowly, "if you were the last _**thing**_ on the face of this planet!" and he stalked away.

Casey folded his arms across his chest and smirked.

"It's coming along nicely…"

* * *

April shut her diary with a sigh. It was late now, and she needed her rest. She blew out the lamp and placed her diary on the desk. She walked out of the room and made her way downstairs to the living room.

There, she spotted Mikey and Donnie fast asleep on the couch, slumped on each other's shoulders with a blanket covering them both. The cat that Mikey had found was resting on his lap.

Casey was sat in a rocking chair, snoring loudly and his hockey mask dangling off his face. She shook her head and smiled. Why he felt the need to wear it at nights, she had no idea.

As she made her way back up the stairs before she went to her room, she entered the bathroom to check up on Leo and Raph. Leo was fast asleep on his chair, with his head lying in his arms as he leaned on the edge of the bathtub, where Raph still lay motionless. April frowned. She stroked both their heads softly before leaving the bathroom and heading into her own bedroom.

She could only hope that things would turn out okay tomorrow.


	14. Chapter 14: Four Once More But Not Whole

**Chapter 14: Four Once More, But Not Whole**

The sun gleamed through the windows, its soft rays bringing Leonardo gently back into the world of the waking. He sat up slowly and rubbed his sleep crusted eyes and yawned. His eyes glazed over to the still sleeping Raphael…

…only to find said turtle sat upright and staring directly at him with tired emerald eyes.

"Raph!" Leo exclaimed, bolting upright with his first smile in days gracing his lips. "You're awake! How do you feel?"

Raph rubbed his head and groaned softly. "Ugh…what's a guy gotta do…to get some food around here?" he mumbled.

Leo was grinning like a fool now as he shot up off his chair and ran to the door. "Hey! Guys!" he cried down the stairs.

Donnie, Mikey and Casey jolted awake at Leo's holler, with Casey falling right out of the rocking chair and landing face first of the floor boards. "Wha-whu? W-what's going on, Leo?!" Donnie stuttered as he stumbled to his feet.

"It's Raph! He's awake!"

_**"WHAT?!"**_ the three exclaimed in unison, all now fully awake. Mikey and Donnie shared a disbelieving grin. Their brother was alright. He was finally awake!

"Yeah! And he wants some food! Bring some food!" he cried before hastening back into the bathroom and kneeling before the dazed turtle, who struggled to sit up in the bath. He cupped Raph's face with both hands and pressed his forehead hard against his own. "You're gonna be okay, Raph," he said, almost on the verge of tears again "You're gonna be okay…"

Raph tugged off Leo's hands from his face with a disapproving frown, "Hey, hey Leo, get a grip will you? And not on my face, thanks very much. It still hurts from that embarrassing beat down…"

Leo could not hold back a small laugh as he helped the disorientated turtle to his feet. "Um…listen, Raph" he began uncertainly. He had been dying to say this to his brother, but the right words would not come out. "…about what I said before…about not needing you and all…well, I – "

He was stopped abruptly by a hand on his shoulder. He looked to Raph, his expression uncannily understanding.

"Leo. Don't." he said softly. He gave his older brother a small smile.

All was forgiven.

Tears brimmed in Leo's eyes once again as Raph tugged his older brother towards him and wrapped his arms around him firmly. Leo buried his head into his shoulder and embraced his brother tighter, putting all the love and protection he could into his embrace, and never wanting to let his little brother go again.

"We missed you, Raph" he muffled into his shoulder, the tears now spilling silently down his face.

Raph hugged him tighter, his own eyes shining with unshed tears.

_"Awww!"_ cooed a voice from the doorway. Both heads snapped up and spun around to find April and Donnie stood holding each other's hands, watching the two turtles with teary-eyed smiling faces. "It's a Kodak moment!" Donnie laughed.

Leo and Raph looked at each other before pushing each other away, folding their arms and blushing furiously. "Yeah, yeah, Donnie," Raph mumbled, "Nice to see you too, egghead."

It was then that Mikey appeared, pushing past April and Donnie as he bolted over to the now conscious red banded turtle. _"Raphie! You're okay!"_ he cried, wrapping his arms around him and Leo both in a crushing hug.

Raph and Leo hugged their baby brother with a laugh. Donnie was quick to run over and join the turtle group hug. He glanced back at April, still stood in the doorway, who was now joined by Casey as they smiled at the embracing turtles.

"Hey, come over here you two!" he said, waving them over.

"Yeah! The group hug ain't complete without you guys!" Mikey called with a teary grin on his face.

April and Casey glanced at each other with stricken expressions. They shared a grin before joining the group hug. "Welcome back, Raph," said April as tears of joy streamed down her face.

In the middle of the huddle, Raph gave out a laugh. "Thanks. Good to be back…so, when's that food coming? I'm starving in here!"

The room filled with laughter.

* * *

April stared out the window with a grin on her face as she watched the four turtles as they sat together in the grass, undoubtedly filling in their aroused brother on what had been happening whilst he slept. Leo draped an arm over his shoulder. Donnie held his other arm. Mikey was hugging him from behind. She could hear his protesting exclamations, telling them to get off him. She could hear them laughing.

The sound was music to her ears.

* * *

"C'mon, Raph! You gotta see this!" Mikey urged with a playful grin, tugging his older brother by the hand and into the barn, much to the red clad turtles' detest, as he had not even had the chance to take off his bandages.

"Alright, alright, Mikey! You don't have to drag me across the freaking barn, I can walk myself!" he protested, but did not slip his hand from his little brothers' grip. Whatever he wanted to show him, it must have been very interesting for him to drag the red clad turtle along with him, so he did not want to dishearten him by refusing to come along like he usually would have.

Besides, it had been days since the freckled turtle had seen his big brother awake. It was only natural that he would be clingy and excited.

Mikey swung open the barn doors and tugged Raph further inside. He finally came to a stop as he released Raph from his grip and stood in front of…what?

"Ta-da!" he cheered, gesturing his hand to the makeshift practice dummy he had been practicing on during their days on the farm. It was made from sacks clumsily stitched together with hay stuffed inside, then tied together to create a 'human' body. Raph stared t it nonplussed.

"What do you think, Raph?" Mikey asked, "I made it so I could keep practicing whilst you were asleep, but if you want, you can practice on it too. What do you think?"

Raph saw the slight nervousness in his eyes; he really wanted him to like it. To be honest, it did not look too bad. He put a finger to his chin and pretended to inspect the dummy. "It's not too bad," he said pointedly, "But is it firm?"

Without warning, he swung his fist hard into the dummy. It was sent flying into the barn door, but it still remained in shape. In fact, Raph even had to shake some feeling back into his hand; that thing was harder than it looked!

"So, what do you think?" Mikey asked again, hopefully.

Raph turned with a grin and wrapped an arm around Mikey's shoulders. "Pretty good job there, Mikey. I like it!" he praised, giving his little brother a playful noogie.

Mikey protested, but laughed anyhow. Oh, how he missed his brother.

Raph looked away from Mikey for a moment, and saw something moving in the far corner of the barn. He stopped and stared for a moment. "Hey, what's that?"

Mikey looked up also, and spotted the large object, slowly moving towards them. "I dunno…but I think it's coming for us."

The large creature stepped out of the shadows, and the two mutant terrapins stared in puzzlement. It was a large, non-mutant turtle, padding towards them leisurely…or to be more accurate, padding towards Raphael.

Raph, curious as to what the little turtle was doing in a barn, crouched down and gently picked it up and held it up to his face. "What'cha doing here, little guy?"

The turtle simply responded by licking Raph's nose. Next to him, Mikey laughed. "Dude, I think it likes you!"

Raph did not seem too bothered by the gesture. He smiled at the turtle in his hands. "Yeah…I guess he does."

Mikey glanced up at his brother, and upon sensing what he was thinking, he smiled widely.

* * *

Raph sat at the kitchen table, still covered in his bandages, idly feeding lettuce to the large turtle that he and Mikey found wandering around in the barn alone earlier that day. They had no idea why, but it seemed to take a distinct liking to Raphael, always wandering over to him and following him wherever he went. Not that he minded at all. He liked animals. Especially cool looking turtles like him. So he decided to keep it.

He found out that Mikey had taken also ginger cat into his care whilst he was out of commission; he told him that she was like his 'Cat-Therapist', to which Raph scoffed at, but clearly understood. His little brother was weird, but it was good that he still had someone to talk to during all the angst he had to put up with the others. He guessed he could have this turtle to talk to whenever he had to get something off is chest instead of wandering off into the city alone; he realized it drew him away from his family more than he thought.

Mikey had decided to name the cat 'Klunk'. Why? He had no idea; something to do with the sound Donnie's head made when it collided with the underbelly of the truck he was fixing for April: 'Klunk!'

His brother was weird like that.

So Raph had decided if he was going to keep his turtle, he would have to give it a name himself. But he wasn't so sure on a name.

"Cool turtle," said a voice from behind him.

Raph spun around to find Casey walking towards the seat on the other side of the table, munching on another apple he picked from the tree. After Raph confessed about his little confrontation with 'gap-tooth' boy, April and his brothers told him that he was the reason they were able to escape the apartment before it was burned down. They owed him their lives, but Raph could not fully bring himself to warm up to this guy just yet. Even after he returned his Sais after he lost them in the rooftop battle.

"Thinking on a name or something?" Casey asked as he sat down opposite him. Raph nodded.

"Yeah…can't think of anything though" Raph replied. He looked to the black haired boy, who seemed to be deep in thought. As far as he was concerned, Raph deemed that 'deep thinking' for this guy was like a monkey repeatedly smashing cymbals together with a crap-eating grin on his face.

He snapped his fingers as an idea hit him. "I've got it! Sheldon!"

A silence hung over the two as Raph stared at him incredulously.

Finally unable to contain himself, Raph burst out laughing. "W-what?! _Sheldon_?! Are you _freaking_ kidding me?!"

Casey scowled. "Well, I don't see you coming up with any better ideas!" he protested. "How about…Spike?"

Raph's laughter slowly subsided as he thought about that. "Huh…that's not bad. I kinda like it. Yeah! Spike it is, then."

Casey nodded with a grin as he sat back against his chair, folding his arms behind his head smugly. "Yeah, I'm awesome like that. Casey Jones right there for ya, pal."

Another silence passed over the two as they watched 'Spike' idly munched his leaf, seeming content with the new, slightly less tense silence. Finally, it was broken as Casey leaned forward and uncertainly cleared his throat. Raph looked up at him expectantly.

"Uh…it's Raph, right?" Raph looked up and nodded once. "I just wanna say…sorry about the crap I caused ya that other night in the park. It wasn't really called for…"

Raph stared at him for a moment in wordless disbelief before smirking smugly. "…April told you to say that, didn't she?"

Casey broke as he nodded his head vigorously. "She's got knives in her eyes, I'm telling ya!" he cried.

Raph simply laughed, leaning over the table to punch Casey in the shoulder lightly. "I hear that. But hey, it's fine. Besides, you're kind of a freak too, you know."

Casey grinned, showing the large gap in his teeth. "Yeah, well, we freaks gotta stick together! Don't we?"

Raph grinned back and nodded. The two shared a firm fist bump, declaring their new born friendship.

Spike stared up at the two for a moment. He then chomped on his leaf.

* * *

_**"The turtles are four once more…yet still not whole. A lingering doubt remains. An unknown which they can't bear to face…**_

…their greatest fear…"

* * *

Raphael stretched his still sore arms as he wandered into the driveway. He was greeted by a string of muffled Japanese curse words. He walked further into the driveway to find a pair of long green legs sticking out from underneath April's van, the toes curling slightly, meaning their owner was in deep concentration in whatever he was doing. He craned is neck curiously. "Donnie?"

A yelp of surprise, a thump and a loud "OW!" before another string of Japanese were heard as Donatello rolled out from underneath the van, rubbing his head in pain. He looked up and caught sight of his red clad brother. "Oh, hey Raph. Good to see you up and around again. It's been kind of lonely without you rampaging around the residence."

Raph rolled his eyes, but laughed anyhow. He missed his banters with Donnie sometimes. At least they were not as personal or as heated or violent as the ones he used to have with Leo. "Yeah, whatever you say, Dork-atello!" he countered. "So…what're you up to?"

Donnie stood up and dusted himself off, his green skin being smeared with oil and grease. "Oh, y'know, just fixing up the old van a little bit. Just adding a few more bits and bobs and stuff like that...so…yeah…" he trailed off as he stared at the old van, lost in thought.

Raph stared at his younger brother. Normally, he would take more pride in his work, going into very deep, very detailed explanations on what he did and how he did it, before one of his brothers had to stop him due to having lost track. But now, he sounded so out of it…almost dejected.

"…so, what's got you so depressed?" Raph asked, folding his arms across his chest.

Donnie looked down at him, slightly surprised. "Depressed? Who's depressed? I'm not depressed! I'm perfectly fine! Yep! That's me, Mr 'Perfectly Fine'! Heh heh…" he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He stopped short when Raph placed a hand on his shoulder.

Raph gazed up at him, his expression hard, but his eyes concerned as he tightened his grip on his brothers' shoulder. "Donnie…"

Donnie looked down at him with despondent eyes. He scrubbed at them furiously as tears began to brim within them. "Sorry, Raph...I...I just miss him so much…" he said, but his voice was starting to waver badly. He could not keep it in any longer.

"...Leo always told me that I was a genius, and that I could fix anything. I never usually believed him but...our family is falling apart now, Raph. How am I supposed to fix this…without Splinter…?"

Raph did not reply. Instead, he pulled Donatello to his chest, wrapping his arms securely around his little brother. Hugs from Raphael were very rough at times, but were also very rare, and held so much strength and reassurance that the red clad turtle could never truly voice.

It was in knowing this that made Donnie finally break as he gripped his older brother tightly. He cried into his shoulder.

"...I miss him too, Don" he whispered as he stroked his shell. "Don't worry bro. You can fix this. We all can…"

* * *

Leonardo strolled down the hill that led to the old barn house, idly playing with a string of hay he found in the grass, twirling it between his fingers. He heard a soft meow below him as he looked down, seeing the cat scurrying up to him. He smiled softly and knelt down on one knee, scooping up the auburn kitten in his large green hands and gently stroking its soft little head.

"Hey there, Klunk" he chuckled, "What're you doing all the way out here without your new owner?"

The cat stared up at him with large, serious emerald eyes. Leo felt a shiver go down his spine.

_What the…?_

Klunk turned her head towards the barn as Leo suddenly heard a series of thumps and grunts of exhaustion coming from inside. Leo tilted his head curiously. That sounded like Mikey.

Leo looked down at the cat. "Is that what you wanted to tell me? That Mikey's in the barn?"

The cat mewed and leapt out of his grip, tugging on the wrapping on his hands as if to say, _'Hurry up and follow me_...'

That cat was kind of scary.

Leo stood up and followed the cat as he approached the barn, peeking silently through the large red painted wooden doors. Just as the cat had tried to 'tell' him, Mikey was indeed inside the barn. But he was vigorously beating his punching bag, drenched in sweat and a fierce glare in his eyes.

Leo's eyes widened as he pushed open the doors, leaving the cat staring after him as he ran over to his baby brother. He had never seen Mikey like this before, and it was almost scaring him.

Mikey was not supposed to act this way.

"Whoa, _whoa there_, little brother! Don't exhaust yourself, you've barely recovered!" he said, placing his hands firmly on Mikey's shoulders, stopping him from any further brutal attacks on the makeshift punching dummy that was now tearing apart at the seams.

Mikey panted in exhaustion, sweat dripping off his face as he looked up at his older brother. Just because Raph was awake did not mean he could stop training. He still had to fight. He still had to find Splinter…

"I'm sorry Leo. But I...I just...I just can't take it anymore, Leo. I-I miss him..." he whimpered, tears stinging his eyes as he finally began to break, "I've gotta get stronger…s-so I can help find S-sensei…D-do you think he's okay, Leo? Do you think he's...?"

Leo stared down at his baby brother sadly. He shook his head and pulled him into his chest and wrapped his arms strongly around him. Mikey immediately gripped him back as he wailed into his older brothers' chest.

"_Naka nai de, outouto. Watashi ha koko ni i masu_…" Leonardo whispered as he rubbed his baby brothers' shell soothingly. They rarely ever used Japanese to each other, unless they were really upset or angry with one another.

Splinter would use it when they were younger to soothe them back to sleep; it comforted them somehow.

But Leo knew that it was not enough. Their family was breaking apart. They needed Splinter here, with them.

_Splinter…_


	15. Chapter 15: Getting Back On Track

**A/N: I loved writing this, but I suck at writing fight scenes, so it was kinda hard. I hope you like what i did with this! **

**I OWN NOTHING!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Getting Back on Track**

In the late hours of the night, The Shredder stood upon the platform above the laboratory which held the production of millions of M.O.U.S.E.R.S. He eyed the scientists' creations with approving eyes.

Just then, a muscular man in a red and black Shinobi shozoku, with jagged shoulder blades and wearing a large metal helmet that concealed his facial features, stepped upon the platform and stood next to The Shredder, his arms folded behind his back as he looked down at the assembly below him.

"You're empire flourishes, Master Shredder" the man said, not looking away from the robots, "soon there will be enough M.O.U.S.E.R.S to invade the entire city. New York itself will bow down before you."

Without averting his gaze from the manufacture of the machines, Shredder regarded the man stood next to him. "Bradford, my greatest pupil...what more from the Rat?" he asked.

"Nothing, Master. It will not speak" Bradford replied.

"And Karai?"

"Nothing from her either. She is still missing…"

Bradford became silent for a moment as a thought occurred to him. "Sensei," he mused, "why do these turtles trouble you? They have not been seen in many days. They are undeniably dead. I do not understand…"

Shredder momentarily glanced at Bradford, before returning his hard gaze to the robot construction. "Something about the way Karai described their fighting style...something familiar...something...from the past...and I am sure that mutant Rat has something to do with it…"

Shredder turned to face Bradford. "I want you to go out there and find me any more information I can use. If you find nothing up there, then beat some out of that rat…by any means necessary. Is that understood?"

"Hai, Sensei." Bradford replied, bowing in respect before heading out to perform the tasks his master commanded. He cracked his knuckles as an evil grin spread across his face.

If that rat would not respond to The Shredders' demands, he would make sure it would respond to _his_. 

* * *

Back on the old farm, Casey was cutting carrots for the stew April was planning on making that evening…using Leonardo's Katana blade.

His attention was drawn away from the carrots to April as she walked into the kitchen, rubbing her sore shoulders as she made her way to the sink. She had been helping Donatello with fixing the van, and she had put more effort in that was strictly necessary. Women did strange things for stress relief.

Casey put down the katana and stepped over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders and rubbing them smoothly.

April jerked back in surprise and glowered at him. "What do you think you're doing?" she snapped. Casey rolled his eyes, not wanting to argue this time, and forced her to sit down. He began massaging her shoulders, not too hard but not too gentle.

April could not help but close her eyes and relax herself. He was a good masseur, despite his rough hands. And he did not make a single sarcastic remark as he worked.

Maybe she was too quick to judge him. After all, he was only trying to help. Looking back, she actually felt bad for the way she had treated him, especially after everything he had done for her and her turtle brothers; they would all be dead if not for him.

She looked up and smiled at him in gratitude. He blushed and smiled back with a shrug.

"Dudes, get a room!"

Casey and April jolted with blushes spreading across their faces upon seeing Michelangelo standing in the doorway, looking unimpressed as he rubbed his shoulders. He and his brothers had started training again once Raphael had woken up. It felt good for them to start practicing together again, and it seemed to help them deal with the pain…

Mikey continued to rub his shoulders as he headed for the cupboard. April held up a bottle. "Ointment?" she offered. Mikey shook his head, instead picking up another bottle: 'Turtle Wax'. He laughed as the two humans rolled their eyes with grins on their faces.

Raphael walked in shortly afterward, stretching and yawning from his nap earlier. "Hey guys," he nodded to Casey and April, before grinning and wrapping his arm around Mikey's neck and driving his knuckles into his skull. "Hey Mikey!"

Mikey laughed as he struggled out of his brothers' grip. "Hey, cut it out!" he cried. April smiled at the two turtles. It was good to see that Raph was finally doing well, and to see the four brothers all back to normal again…or as normal as a giant mutant turtle could be.

Suddenly, Leonardo burst into the room, scanning the kitchen frantically for something. "Hey, have any of you guys seen my other – _**HEY!**_"

His eyes locked upon the Katana that lay on the table next to a pile of cut carrots. His eyes then slid over to Casey, who grinned sheepishly at the furious turtle before releasing April's shoulders and making a run for the back door.

Leo was quick to pursuit him, grabbing his katana from the table and waving said sword in the air like wild man as he ran after the vigilante. "Come back here, Casey! I'm not finished with you! _**DAMN**_!"

The kitchen became filled with uncontrollable laughter.

As Raph watched his older brother chase the black haired boy across the yard, he could not help but feel a little nostalgia rising up in his chest.

"Ah, good times," he sighed, before running outside to save the poor boy from his brothers' penalty. 

* * *

The sun was blazing high in the sky that afternoon, its gentle rays lighting up the forest floor with its brilliance. The forest itself was quiet; the only resonances heard were the tender birdsong melodies that echoed through the trees that swayed delicately in the gentle wind. However, this serenity was not to last for long as four, large mutant turtles prepared to face one another in combat.

Raphael kneeled in the grass on all fours in front of Donatello, who did the same as they glared into each other's eyes, neither turtle making a sound or any move to one another. Beside them, Leonardo and Michelangelo did the same, until the two finally stood up and drew their weapons.

Michelangelo glared at Leo, his nunchaku gripped firmly in his hands. Leonardo glared right back, his single katana blade held steadfastly in front of him in a defensive stance.

An acorn fell silently from a tree.

No one moved. No one spoke.

The acorn hit the grass.

Leonardo's eyes widened as he charged for Michelangelo.

"Oh yeah!" Mikey cried as he charged for Leo, "Michelangelo's on the move!"

Leo swung his katana towards him, but Mikey was quick to dodge, flipping over his brother with a high back flip, landing expertly on his feet behind the blue clad turtle. Leo spun around and glared at his adversary, who spun his nunchaku around him in a smug fashion, complete with a mocking grin. "You know what to do!"

Leo charged for him again, only to have Mikey easily elude his strikes and roll along in the dirt. "I'm here! No, I'm there! I could be _anywhere_!" he quipped, before evading yet another blow from his elder brothers' sword.

Leo could not fight back a smile at his baby brothers' enthusiasm to train again.

"How do you stop what you can't even see?!" Mikey taunted as he charged for Leo, twirling his nunchaku over his head as he prepared to strike. However, Leo had switched his blade over, and used the handle to jab it directly into Mikey's stomach.

Mikey dropped his weapons and doubled over, rolling in the dirt before coming to a stop on his knees, clutching his belly in agony, before gaging and crumpling to the ground.

"Like that?" Leo asked with a smile as he looked down at his defeated brother.

Mikey held up a twitching finger and gasped, "…good one, Leo…"

Meanwhile, Donatello spun his Bo staff proficiently from left to right, before pointing it threateningly at Raphael, who glared him down, unaffected by the hostile move.

He cracked his neck from side to side. "Alright, Donnie," he said dauntingly, "put down the staff, and no one gets hurt."

"Uh, you said that last time, Raph, and then you hurt me." Donnie stated 'as-a-matter-of-factly'.

"Yeah…but, less than I would have." Raph replied nonchalantly.

Donnie merely scoffed. "Yeah, right."

Donatello launched himself at Raph, bringing his Bo staff down on his head, but Raph was quick to roll out of the way before it struck its target, and swiftly leapt out of the way when Donnie made another move to strike his foot. Donnie spun his staff before jabbing it at Raph's face, which he was swift to dodge just in time.

He brought his staff down yet again to strike Raph's head, but the red clad turtle yet again rolled out of the way. Donnie spun his staff over his head and attempted to bring it down hard again, only to have it swiped from his grip. He looked up at Raph with a disbelieving gasp as he leaned on the stolen staff. Raph spun it before bringing it down hard on his knee, snapping the wooden weapon in half.

Donnie blinked. "…should've dropped the staff?"

Raph grinned evilly. "…should've dropped the staff."

Raph charged at Donnie, who tried to escape his brothers' oncoming punishment. Unfortunately, the purple clad turtle was too slow, and became victim to being repeatedly hit on his shell with his own broken weapon.

He hunched low onto the ground and shielded his head as he cried out, "Okay, okay, OW, I'm down, _I'M DOWN_!"

Raphael suddenly stopped his barrage of strikes as he spun around to face his new opponent as he threw the broken staff to the grass. Leonardo stood before him, his sword drawn and ready.

Donnie walked to the side of the battle field and sat down on his knees next to Mikey of the grass. Mikey stuck his tongue out at his brother, who pouted in response.

Leo kneeled down in front of Raph, his weapon still drawn. Raph followed suit.

"_Onegaishimasu_," Leo said in a challenging tone.

"Whatever you say." Raph replied smugly.

Leo swung his blade out in front of him, the tip aiming dangerously at his opponent. Raph unsheathed his Sais and spun the in his hands. Leonardo charged for Raphael, but Raph brought his Sais to shield his brothers' strike.

The two engaged in a heated battle, swift, sharp and precise movements from both turtles, but both only narrowly missing their marks. The turtles charged, throwing kicks, punches and rolling out of the way from various attacks.

Leonardo managed to swiftly disarm Raphael, using his katana handle to jab at one hand, causing Raph's grip on one Sai to slip as it sailed through the air, landing in-between Michelangelo and Donatello, who remained motionless during the battle as they continued to watch.

The two clashing turtles raced towards each other once more. Raphael jabbed the katana out of Leo's hand, and in one swift movement, hooked the forked handles of his Sai onto Leo's wrist, twisted it and hauled him over his shoulder, flipping him into the air and landing on his shell in the mud with a sickening splat.

Leo groaned as he held his shoulder in pain. Raph towered over his muddy form and looked down at him smugly. "Nice try!" he mocked.

Leo glared up at him with a frown; beaten by a recently comatose turtle, who had not trained in days.

How humiliating.

Raph held out a hand and offered it to Leo with a smile. Leo smiled back and took the offered hand as Raph pulled him to his feet. He tried to wipe the mud off his arms and legs, but only ended up smearing it. Leo sighed as he gave up, his arms flopping uselessly to his sides. "Thanks, Raph. Now I need another bath" he said with a scowl.

Raph simply pointed and laughed. "I dunno, Leo. I think it looks good on you!" Mikey and Donnie were soon to follow in his laughter.

Leo grinned mischievously and raised a brow. "Oh _really_?" he said slowly. In one rapid movement, he bent down, grabbed a chunk of mud and plastered squarely into Raph's face. Raph frantically rubbed his face, spitting out muck and glaring at Leo, who was too busy pointing and laughing to notice.

"Ahahaha! It looks good on you too!" he laughed, clutching his sides in pain.

Raph growled, but smiled as he picked up some mud and threw it at Leo, who was quick to duck out of the way just in time. It sailed through the air and splatted into Donnie's face. "Argh!" he cried, "My face! Why is it _always_ my face? What is _**wrong**_ with my face?!"

Mikey stood up. "MUD FIGHT!" he declared as he dug his hands into the earth and threw mud at both Leo and Raph.

Both turtles spat disgustedly and glared challengingly at the orange clad turtle. "Oh it. Is. ON!" Raph growled as he pounced at Mikey, both turtles splashing into the mud.

Soon, the trees and rocks were covered in mud splatters from the muck the teenaged turtles threw at each other, running away from each other and laughing all the while.

What had started as a serious training session had turned into a Battle to the Death with what Mikey from then on referred to as, 'The Dreaded Battle of The Mud Turtles of 013'.

The battle finally came to a halt as the turtles collapsed into the mucky earth, tired out from their laughter and running, covered from head to toe in grime from endless onslaughts of the gunky substance. All were breathing heavily, but held smiles of pure, unadulterated delight on their faces.

"That was…so fun…" breathed Raph as he stared up at the clear blue skies above him.

"…yeah…" Mikey sighed, "…wanna go again?"

The boys laughed. "I don't think so, Mikey," said Leo as he rolled onto his feet, offering a hand to Donnie and pulling him up, "As fun as it was, I think we all really need a bath right now."

"Aww, what's the matter, Leo?" Raph said, grunting as he stood up and folded his arms over his chest, "You get upset 'cause you got dirty? Ha, clean freak!" Leo pouted and was about to retort when a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Hey, what did I miss?" called a voice from the trees.

The turtles spun around to find Casey leaning lazily against his bat, watching the mud coated turtles with a grin.

"Casey!" Leo exclaimed, "We were, um, just training…"

Casey laughed, "Well, there was an awful lot of laughing we could hear from the barn. I thought I might join in the fun. I could use a little training myself." He stepped forward and pointed his bat towards Raph. "Whattaya say, Raphie boy? Care for a rematch?" he challenged.

Raph smirked as he bent over and retrieved his Sais that were dropped during the 'war'. Casey grinned at the red banded turtle before mimicking the Japanese tradition they used and bowed. "_Onegasimash_," he mispronounced.

Raph chuckled before bowing back and assuming a battle stance. Leo, Donnie and Mikey stood back and watched.

The two advanced on each other. Casey was the first to swing his bat towards the turtle, but he was swift to escape his attack. "Strike one! Hard Cheese!" he mocked. Casey swung again. Raph dodged again. "Whiffer!"

Casey realized with a smirk that he was mimicking what he had said during their first encounter back in the city.

Ah, what memories.

However, as Casey pondered, Raph had once again managed to flip over him and land a hard spinning kick into his spine, sending the older teen sprawling into the mud. Raph cheered as he marched over to Casey and planted a muddy foot onto his back in triumph. "Home Run! Raphael wins again! Two – Nothing!"

Despite his loss, Casey laughed. "Cheap shot, freak!" he mocked.

Raph removed his foot and offered a three fingered hand to his friend. "Whatever you say, freak!"

The two laughed Raph pulled Casey to his feet, giving him a hard pat on the back. The other three turtles watched the exchange with smiles on their faces.

"Looks like Raph's made a new friend," Leo chuckled as the five, now very muddy, teenagers headed back to the farm house, all inwardly dreading the scolding they were to receive from April. 

* * *

April placed her hands firmly on her hips, glaring disapprovingly at the five boys coated in mud before her. They were rubbing the back of their heads, playing with their bandages and looking aimlessly round the kitchen nervously.

Leonardo finally made eye contact with her and hesitantly stepped forwards. "Umm," he began sheepishly, "I can explain…"

April held up a finger to stop him. "No need," she said simply, "I think I can gather what happened. But I only want know one thing…"

She glared hotly at the turtles and the black haired vigilante. They flinched in response. This was going to hurt.

In one fluid movement, April grabbed and egg from the side and smashed its shell on Leo's head. Leo stood stock still as the gooey substance coated his head and dripped on his shoulders.

"…why wasn't I invited?" she concluded, folding her arms across her chest with a large grin across her face.

The four boys behind them began to laugh up a storm, pointing and cackling at the egg covered blue turtle.

Leo grinned mischievously. "So…you wanna play dirty?" He slowly reached for another egg. April's eyes widened as she took a step back.

"No, Leo, no, not in the kitchen –"

She squealed as Leo planted an egg directly at her chest, the egg exploding over her yellow shirt. She growled playfully as she grabbed a tomato and flung it at him, but he was swift to dodge and instead splatted into Donnie's face.

"Oh come on, again?! Why my face?! _Why is it always my face_?!" he cried.

Mikey grinned. "You know what it's time for?!" He ran towards the fridge and grabbed several squishy foods. "**The Dreaded Battle of The Food Turtles of 013'**!"

And within seconds, the once clean kitchen became covered from top to bottom in smeared eggs, tomatoes, oranges and many other types of food as the six teenagers engaged in yet another battle to the death.

However, it did not take a genius to figure out who was going to clean it up afterwards.


	16. Chapter 16: Rise Again

**Chapter 16: Rise Again**

Later that evening, just as the sun was setting over the crimson horizon, Leonardo, now cleansed thoroughly from his earlier mud and food fight with his brothers and sister, sat cross-legged underneath a large willow tree that stood deep within the forest. It was a pleasant, peaceful area, with a small stream quietly flowing nearby.

He assumed the lotus position and closed his eyes.

Taking in a deep breath, he relaxed himself into deep meditation, drowning out the sounds of the waking world as he entered the spirit realm.

Behind closed eyes, the universe was beheld to him. Many alternate worlds, realities and whispers of past lives echoed endlessly through this vast realm of time and space that his mind floated within. He had learned how to do this with Master Splinter back when he was only young.

He let his consciousness wander back to that time…

* * *

_A ten-year-old Leonardo sat cross-legged in the dojo with his sensei under the large tree. He looked up at his father, patient but eager to know what his sensei would teach him today._

_"Leonardo, today, I will teach you how to enter a deeper state of meditation. Since you have done very well so far with our private training sessions, I believe you are now ready."_

_Leonardo smiled up at him. He had been meditating with Splinter in private for many weeks now, after becoming deeply interested in the way in which his father meditated, so Splinter decided to teach his eager pupil, but warning him in advance that it would be a very hard process._

_But Leonardo, being Leonardo, was determined to succeed._

_Such determination made his father proud._

_"I am ready, Master Splinter," Leonardo said, bowing his head in respect, trying to hide his excitment. Splinter smiled at his son and nodded._

_"Then let us begin. Assume the Lotus Position" he instructed. Leonardo did so, with minimal struggling this time. "Good. Now, relax yourself. Close your eyes. Deep breaths. Drown out the sounds of the world around you. Concentrate…"_

_Leonardo did as instructed as he closed his eyes. Soon, the only sound he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat._

_He concentrated hard._

_He could suddenly feel his mind slipping away from his body and became scared. He felt cold...lifeless…was he dying?_

_He did not want to die yet. He was not ready! _

_He began to slip back into the waking world as he started to panic._

_"Do not be afraid, my son…I am here…"_

_Splinters' soothing words of reassurance eased the young turtle back into mediation. He felt his mind slip again._

_He let go…_

_Slowly, Leonardo opened his eyes to find himself floating weightlessly inside a realm of light and colour. He could hear the endless echoing whispers of those of the past blow through him. He could see the different realities and different worlds that lay beyond their own. He could almost reach out and touch them._

_He had done it! He had succeeded! He was finally in the spirit realm._

_It was breath-taking…_

_...it was also draining…_

"…onardo…?"

_What was that? Someone was calling out to him…_

_"…eonardo…!"_

_The voice sounded worried…afraid…_

_It was his Sensei…He wanted to reply, but his mouth would not move, nor would his voice come out…_

_...he tried to reach back…_

_...he really did…_

_...but… _

_..._

**"Leonardo!" **

_Leo's eyes snapped open as his mind was suddenly dragged from the spirit realm and he returned to his body. His breathing was rapid and his body felt ice cold. His eyes scanned the area around him frantically. He was back in the dojo. _

_He looked up and met the familiar warm, but worried gaze of his sensei. He was lying in his arms. What had just happened?_

_"…S-sensei…" Leo stuttered as tears of fear sprung in his dark blue eyes, "…F-father…I-I was…I…"_

_"Hush, my son" Splinter soothed, bringing Leonardo closer to his chest, "It is all right. You merely entered the spirit realm. Your young mind was still unable to fully take in the immensity of its power. But you will be fine, my son. You will be fine."_

_Leo clutched Splinters' robe tightly as he buried his face into his fur, still breathing heavily and rapidly. He did not think going into the spirit realm would be that hard._

_Or that terrifying._

_After a moment of lying in his fathers' arms, his breathing finally returned to normal and he looked up to his father. "Sensei…did I do it?"_

_Splinter smiled. "Yes, Leonardo, you did. I am very proud of you, my son."_

* * *

Leonardo smiled fondly at the memory. He had been so afraid back then, thinking that he had almost died. But with Splinters' help, he was able to master the deep state with little to no problems (the only problem being able to get out of the state without being completely loopy for the next few hours).

His sensei was always there to protect him. He would always be there…

Leo frowned sadly. He had thought his master would always be there. They all did.

Just as he was about to let his mid slip away from the meditation, he heard a voice. A single, familiar voice that echoed louder than the rest, almost deafening in comparison to the tiny whispers floating around him.

...

_"…Leonardo…I hear you, my son…" _

_..._

Leo's eyes snapped open as he fell forward with a cry. He knelt there on his hands and knees, breathing heavily as he stared wide-eyed at his hands. He heard it. He felt the connection; a connection that screamed the undeniable truth at him.

That was Splinter.

Splinter was _alive_.

Leo scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he was able back to the farmhouse.

* * *

Raphael stared intensely at the towering form before him. Sweat trickled down his forehead. Donatello and Michelangelo held their breaths as they watched him. There was no way he could do it. It was impossible at this stage. It would be a miracle if he succeeded.

Raph reached out cautiously.

"Raphael, be careful!" Donnie warned.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing…" Raph replied, his eyes never wavering from the challenge presented to him.

He could do this.

Victory _would_ be his!

Raphael carefully removed the large block from the tower, thinking that he had won, only to have the tower of blocks topple over and fall to the ground. Raph groaned and slapped a hand to his face and cursed.

Donatello, on the other hand, was rejoicing as he stood up and cried in victory. "Giant Jenga I Win!" he laughed, spreading his arms out wide and spinning in place.

Michelangelo clapped and laughed at his brothers' display, whilst Raph pouted and folded his arms. Whose idea was it to play for Giant Jenga Blocks again?

Oh, Mikey's. Of course.

"Let's play again! Loser has to go outside and mediate with Leo!" Mikey challenged.

"Oooh, brave bet there, Mikey" Donnie laughed with a large grin, "Are you sure you wanna go down that road?"

Just then, the aforementioned turtle came bursting into the living room, panting heavily as he nearly tripped over his own feet as he ran over to his brothers, speaking so quickly his sentences became incoherent.

"Whoa, whoa there, Leo! What the heck is going on, you spaz?!" cried Raph as he grasped Leo by the shoulders, trying to calm him down.

Leo forced himself to calm his breathing down as he stared up at Raph with wide eyes. "He's alive! Splinters' alive!" he exclaimed.

His brothers glanced at each other in surprise. Raph turned back to Leo and gripped his shoulders tighter. "Leo. I know what you're feeling" he said solemnly, "I'm not gonna lie to you…we all think he's alive, but…"

Leo gripped his brother back as he looked him in the eye. "I don't think, Raph…" he said firmly. "…I know."

* * *

Later, as the full moon began to set in the slowly lightening sky, the four turtles sat in a circle around a brightly burning campfire that Donatello had quickly put together. Raph glared into the flames, and then at his older brother, who sat cross legged with his hands on his knees and his eyes closed.

"Listen, Leo" Raph snapped, bringing Leo out of his concentration as he glanced calmly at his temperamental brother, "if you've dragged us all the way out here for nothing…"

"Trust me, Raph" Leo said sternly, "I know what I'm doing."

"Don't worry, I came prepared!" Mikey laughed, holding up a stick of marshmallows. Donnie slapped a hand on his forehead as he shook his head with a sigh.

"Put those away!" Leo snapped. Mikey immediately dropped the stick and straightened up.

Leo sighed. "Now close your eyes, and concentrate. Join hands" he instructed. Raph rolled his eyes, but did as was told. Mikey and Donnie followed suit. Leo held Donnie. Donnie held Mikey. Mikey held Raph.

They sat in a joined circle around the flickering flames in silence. "Now, relax yourselves," Leo whispered, repeating the words their sensei had said to him long ago. "Deep breaths. Drown out the sounds of the world around you. Concentrate…"

Soon, the four turtles entered deep meditation. Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo had never done this before, but with Leonardo guiding them every step of the way, and with their combined efforts, they were able to safely enter the vast world of the spirit realm.

Together.

Unbeknownst to them as they meditated, the flames had turned from crimson into an intensely burning neon blue. An image appeared in their minds. The tall, familiar form of Master Splinter himself, stood before them in spirit form. He gazed upon his four sons as he spoke, his words echoing within their thoughts…

...

_"I am proud of you, my sons. Tonight you have learned the final and greatest truth of the ninja, which ultimate mastery comes not of the body…but of the mind._

_Together, there is nothing your four minds cannot accomplish. Help each other. Draw upon one another. And always remember the true force that binds you...the same as that which brought me here tonight...that which I gladly return with my final words…"_

He smiled lovingly at his sons one last time, tears visible in his tender eyes.

_"…I love you all, my sons…" _

_..._

With those final words, Splinter faded away into the darkness, leaving his sons behind. The flames slowly returned to their crimson hue as the turtles opened their eyes.

They glanced at each other, tears trickling down their faces. Donnie glanced at Leo with wretched dark crimson eyes. Leo pulled his younger brother into him, cradling the back of his head as he gripped him tightly. Donnie clung to his older brother, crying into his shoulder. Mikey launched himself at Raph and hugged him around his neck. Raph did not hesitate to embrace his baby brother back with all the force he could muster as the tears fell from his eyes.

The four brothers sat there for a time, holding each other with all the love and comfort they could possibly give one another.

As their tears finally began to subside, Donatello looked up to Leonardo and sniffed, "Leo…what're we gonna do now…?"

Leonardo stared sadly at Donatello, and then turned to glance at Raphael and Michelangelo, who stared right back, still clinging to each other with the same question in their distraught eyes.

Leonardo's expression hardened as he wiped away his tears, wiping the last of his sadness and fear away with them. He gently released Donatello and stood up tall and strong before his brothers. He was done being a scared, helpless turtle now.

Now, it was time for them all to remain strong.

"I'll tell you what we're going to do now," he announced firmly, "We're going back. We're going to save the city. And then we're going to rescue our Father."

The three turtles stared up at their brother in awe, smiles now growing upon their faces as they watched their brother become their great leader once more. They wiped away the last of their tears as they stood up tall side by side with their leader.

Raphael placed a hand on his brothers' shoulder. "Then let's get ready to kick some ass, fearless leader" he asserted with a confident grin and a glint in his emerald eyes.

"Just lead the way and we'll follow!" Donatello declared determinedly.

"Let's save the city, bros!" Mikey cried, pumping his fist in the air, "High Three!"

The turtles threw their hands in the air and slapped them together, a new hope dawning within them along with the sun as it rose in the horizon.

Leonardo was right. It was time for them to stop hiding. It was time for them to return to the city. To save their Father.

It was time for The Turtles to rise again.


	17. Chapter 17: Where Loyalties Lie

**A/N: Okay, again, I just really felt that Karai fit this role better due to her rebelious background, and remember that I wrote this long before the finale, so i had no clue (or, well, we all kinda guessed, but we weren't certain) that she was Miwa. And to be quite honest, I can't be bothered to go back and edit the whole thing again...**

**I OWN NOTHING BUT MY FEELS ARE HURTING!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Where Loyalties Lie**

April sat next to Casey on the swing chair on the porch, watching as the sun rose slowly above the forest trees.

"So you actually played hockey professionally?" April asked curiously.

Casey shrugged, "Yeah…before I got hurt. Less than a year…" he rubbed his chin, a far off look in his eyes.

April frowned and laid an apologetic hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry…" she whispered. Casey simply shrugged again, not averting his eyes from the crimson sunrise before him.

"…so was I," he whispered. Clearing his throat, he attempted to change the subject as he finally looked at April. "So, enough about me," he began, "How're you holding up?"

April sighed as she slipped her hand off his shoulder, looking towards the sunset. "It's just…the turtles are all together again, but without Splinter, they just seem so…broken. And here I am, not being able to do a thing. Completely useless.

"I can't tell them I know how they feel, because I don't. I can't tell them everything's going to be okay because…how can I? And not only that, but I don't even know if my father knows I'm alive or not. I couldn't call him because the neighbours moved away a long time ago, and the van was still being fixed…Casey, I don't know what we're gonna do…"

April buried her face in her hands in despair. She had never felt so useless. Her friends were suffering, and her father probably thought she was dead. She was scared for them and for her. She did not know what to do, and it was killing her…

She felt a hand on her shoulder. She glanced up and saw Casey with his arm around her comfortingly. He stared down at her with sincere sympathy in his dark eyes. "Don't worry," he said softly, "You're not useless. We'll help the guys out. And after that, we'll help you find your dad. Okay?" He brushed a tear off her cheek and smiled.

She returned the smile and placed her hand over his. "Thank you, Casey."

A sudden clearing of someone's throat jolted the two humans on the bench. They turned to find the turtles stood before them, looking at them strangely (especially Donnie).

Casey stood up with a blush and pointed an accusing finger at the turtles. "I hate it when you guys do that, alright?!" he exclaimed.

April stood up next to him. "What is it?" she asked.

The four brothers stood together tall and strong, the rising sun rays reflecting brilliantly off their bodies, along with an overflowing aura of a new found determination.

"It's time to go back." Leonardo announced.

Casey and April stared at the four turtles in awe. They were amazed. It was obvious from the moment that they laid eyes upon them that they had changed. From the frightened teenagers that fled from the city, beaten and broken with little hope left in their eyes, to the poised, deadly ninjas they were destined to be.

April gazed at each and every one of them. In that very moment, she could never have felt more proud of them. She smiled and nodded her head firmly.

"Well then…let's get going!" 

* * *

It was late at night when the turtles and their human friends finally returned to the familiar streets of New York City. The rain hammered down upon the earth relentlessly as they parked the newly fixed van (credit to Donatello of course) on the curb next the manhole nearest to their home.

As they climbed out of the van one by one, the rains whipped hard against their faces, and they were forced to take temporary cover underneath one of the abandoned shops nearby. April stepped out of the van, holding the large turtle, Spike, close to her chest as she ran under the shelter. Raph had insisted that they take him with them, (and by insisting, in reality meant practically begging her in a 'manly' fashion.) He had grown very much attached to the non-mutant turtle, and she could not blame him, nor could she say no to his request.

Mikey climbed out next, holding Klunk close to his plastron as he ran after April. Like his older brother, he too had grown attached to the little orange cat, and had also begged April to let him keep her. She had eventually relented, before realizing that if they were to find Splinter, things would be rather awkward in the lair between the cat and the giant rat…

Once everyone was present and accounted for, Leo and Raph made their way over to the manhole and removed the cover. Casey stared at the hole in despair as they climbed down the ladder and into the sewers.

"Oh great…" he muttered as he followed them through the hole and into the tunnels.

Leonardo took the lead as the group trekked their way through the dampened tunnels. The rainwater had caused the sewer water to rise slightly, pushing all the waste and junk to be pushed nearer to the surface, much to the groups' disgust. At the very end of the line, Casey groaned. "First it's the farm that time forgot, and now this? Why don't I ever meet guys who own condos?"

In front of him, Raphael laughed at his friends' misery. Mikey turned and walked backwards as he stared at Casey with his signature wide, green freckled faced smile that he and his brothers had missed so much. "Dude, remember, 'Slimy, yet satisfying'! You'll learn to love it!"

Leo took a look around him as they finally entered the lair…or whatever was left of it. The place had remained as chaotic and destroyed as it had been when they had fled to April's aunts' apartment nearly a week ago. In fact, Leo could even spot a few rats that had hidden themselves in the corners of their living room.

Gross.

As soon as they found Splinter and saved the city, this place was going to need an extreme makeover…

Leo was pulled from his thoughts as Casey muttered something else about living in the sewers and rolled his eyes with a sigh. "Would you stop complaining? It's just for the night." He snapped, hoping that would shut him up for at least a few minutes.

With that, the group set to work.

Donnie and Mikey retreated to their rooms to retrieve any spare blankets and pillows they could find, whilst Leo and Raph shooed away the rats that had nested themselves in their home, both turtles armed with brooms.

The only rat allowed to live here was Splinter.

April and Casey moved away any destroyed bits and pieces from the pit in the middle of the room to make space for them to sleep for the night. Behind them, they could hear Raph growl in frustration.

"I still don't see why we can't just get started right away!" snarled, sweeping his broom at a rat with a little more force than was necessary.

"It's been a long drive Raph," Leo replied calmly as they shooed away the last of the rats from their lair, letting them scurry away back into the tunnels, "and before we go advertising to The Foot that we're back, we could all use a few hours' sleep."

Raph looked down, his fists clenched and teeth grinding. But after a moment of consideration, he finally relaxed with a sigh of resignation. "...You're right, Leo," he mumbled, just as Mikey and Donnie returned with the blankets and pillows, both bearing surprised expressions at Raphael's statement. "It's just that I – "

Something thumped in one of the rooms. All froze in place.

"What was that?" Donnie asked in loud whisper.

"I don't know," Leo answered in an equally hushed tone, "but we're gonna find out…"

Ninja instincts kicking in, the turtles slowly moved towards Raphael's room, hands reaching instinctively for their weapons. Casey was right behind them, bat ready in hand and poised to strike. April moved in behind them to get a better look.

Leo swiftly swung the door open as Raph charged into the room. A small scuffle ensued in the darkness, before Raph finally overpowered the intruder. Leo switched the lights on.

His eyes immediately widened as the intruder raised their head and revealed their face.

"_**Karai**_!" he exclaimed.

"Ka-_**Who?!**_" Donnie, Mikey and Casey asked in unison.

Raph growled as he pointed the tip of his Sai closer to the kunoichi's neck. He remembered her from the fight on the rooftop; she was the one to deliver the final blow. Now, however, the tables had turned; he had her pinned down now!

"Bet you think you're pretty slick?" he mocked with a sly grin.

However, the red clad turtle was not prepared when Karai twisted his hand with a sickening crack, making him cry out in pain. Karai took that moment to flip the turtle off her back and land sorely on his shell.

"I have my moments," she jeered.

Instantly, Leo launched himself towards her, his blades drawn and poised to strike, with Donnie not far behind. Mikey and April were at Raph's side immediately, helping him to his feet and checking his wrist; it was not broken, but it was bruising badly.

Karai kicked Donatello away as she and Leonardo locked blades. Leo glared at her. "You will _**not**_ hurt my family again, Karai!" he snarled.

Karai planted a knee in his stomach, and as he doubled over she flipped over his shell and headed for the door. But Raph and Donnie beat her to it, leaping on top of her and pinning her arms behind her back.

"Please! Just listen! I'm not here to kill you!" she insisted as she struggled in the turtles' grip.

They stared down at her doubtfully. "Well, if you're not here to kill us, then why'd you attack Raph?" Donnie probed.

Karai turned as much as she could to look at the turtles restraining her and stared at them point-blankly. "Wouldn't you try to defend yourself too if a bunch of green mutant turtles attacked you first?"

Raph and Donnie shared a glance. "Touché" they replied in unison with a shrug, but they still did not release her.

"Please, just let me up…I'm here to _help_…" she said, turning to Leonardo who towered over her.

Leo glared down at her. She was the one who had almost killed him and his brothers and had been responsible for burning down April's second home. Why should he believe her?

He looked down into her golden brown orbs. He was taken aback slightly, for he did not see a trace of malice or trickery within them.

He narrowed his eyes. She was telling the truth. But even so, he did not lose his glare.

"Raph, Donnie, let her up. She's not going to do anything." Leo instructed, never averting his gaze from the kunoichi, who's eyes widened a fraction at his statement. However, the others around him were not as willing as he was to let her up. Especially Raph.

"_What_?! You can't be serious!" he barked, "She's in _The Foot Clan_! She was the one who burned down April's apartment and tried to kill us! For all we know she could have backup waiting for us outside! You can't _seriously_ be telling me that all of a sudden you actually trust this lying little – "

"_Raphael_," Leo growled warningly, making Mikey and April behind him jump, slightly alarmed. He now averted his steel like glare to his younger brother. "Let. Her. _Up_."

Raph cursed in Japanese under his breath. He was by no means afraid of Leonardo, but he knew when to rebel against his brother, and when to not mess with his angry leader.

Raph reluctantly got off of Karai, followed by Donnie, but the two prepared to unsheathe their weapons for _when_ she did decide to turn on them.

Karai rubbed her wrists and dusted herself off as she stood up. She turned and faced Leonardo as he sheathed his Katanas. "What are you doing here, Karai?" he inquired, folding his arms across his chest firmly, "If you don't want to kill us, then what _do_ you want?"

Karai turned away from the blue banded turtle for a moment. _Now_ she was debating on whether she should really help them or not? She had had an entire week to think upon her actions and decisions. She had also thought about the consequences that would be upon her should The Shredder ever find out about her treachery.

All her life, she had remained loyal to her father, believing that what he was doing was for the good of the people of this city, never questioning his methods of working, and never inquiring how he would accomplish his goals; her role was to battle, follow orders and give them if necessary. And at first, she loved nothing more. It was all for the fun of it. For the thrill of the fight.

However, that had all changed when these turtles showed up. It was no longer just fun and games. Now it was a war. And up until this point, Karai had never been asked to kill, nor had she ever killed before. But after she failed him once before, back when she was younger and failed to please him during her early stages of training, she knew that she would follow her fathers' commands, no matter what the cost. Even if that meant taking a life.

Then, as she was about to make her first killing, she looked into the turtles' eyes. It was the hatred, the fear and the sadness in his gaze that made her hesitate. And then the rat that they held locked up and bound in chains, left there to rot in his soon-to-be grave…it was the broken, unparalleled anguish within his eyes that ultimately undid her.

The impossible vendetta of her father was not worth the endless torture and untimely deaths of a small clan of mutants that had done nothing erroneous to this world.

With her decision now firmly in mind, she turned back to Leonardo. "I came down here to...see what you guys were really about…who you really are…and to re-think some things...about what we're gonna do to this city...what The Shredder is going to do..."

"_'The Shredder_?'" Leo asked, tilting his head to the side in puzzlement (to which Karai found considerably adorable for some unfathomable reason), "Who the heck is 'The Shredder'? Is he the one behind all of this?"

"Listen...I'll tell you everything" Karai said, "Just let me stay here for the night. I promise I will not do anything to hurt your clan again...your family."

Leo's eyes widened a fraction at her statement as he stared at her nonplussed. Behind him, Mikey, Donnie and April shared a similar glance. Raph remained still, but internally, he too was surprised.

But seriously, whose team was she on? That girl needed to set her loyalties straight.

April glanced at the kunoichi. Despite everything that she had done to them, April could tell, simply by looking into her eyes, that she was sincere in her statement and in her choice. She would help them.

Casey was the one to break the tense silence, "Wait, what's all this about spending the night down here?" he asked, sounding suddenly very wary. All eyes turned to him in confusion.

Leo stared at him flatly. "Were you not listening to a word I was saying before about 'spending the night here'?"

"I just thought we were cleaning the place for you guys! I ain't sleepin' in no sewer!"

Leonardo rolled his eyes as he led everyone out of Raphael's room and back into the main area. Donnie laughed as he ran up to Casey and prodded a mocking finger at his chest. "Ah, I see you're a claustrophobic!" he teased.

Casey glared at Donnie. "You wanna fist in that gapped mouth of yours?!" he seethed, "I've never even looked at another guy before!"

Donnie began to smirk, covering his mouth to prevent the immense amusement from bursting from his lips. Mikey, Raph and Leo however, were not as considerate as they all burst into fits of laughter.

April tapped Casey on the shoulder as she chocked back her own giggles. "Um, Casey, Donnie means that you're afraid of enclosed areas. Not…what you thought he said…"

As the laughter finally died off, Casey scoffed. "Afraid? Me? Is that what you think? I don't have to take this stuff about being afraid!" he said as he strode pompously towards the turnstiles. "I'm gonna sleep in the truck!" And with that, he disappeared down the tunnels.

The turtles shrugged collectively and set back to work upon getting the place sorted out. Karai and April stood at the exit looking after the retreating form of Casey. Without looking at her, Karai said to April, "He does know that the truck is smaller than the entire living room floor, right?"

April could not bite back a smirk. "Nope. I don't think he does."


	18. Chapter 18: Trust and Betrayal

**Chapter 18: Trust and Betrayal**

To everyone's surprise, Karai was true to her word; she told them everything.

She had told them that The Shredder was a very powerful Ninja Master, and was the leader of the army of ninjas; The Foot Clan. His plot was to gather any worthy adolescents of New York who felt they did not belong within society, and train them to be ninjas to expand his army, whilst also employing a not-so-well-known scientist named Baxter Stockman, to create these small robotic creations he called M.O.U.S.E.R.S. Shredder would then use them to wreak havoc on the city, until they finally bowed down to his will.

When Donatello had inquired her of what these so-called M.O.U.S.E.R.S looked like, she dug into the bag she had brought with her and took out a M. .E.R head. To say that Donatello was not fascinated by the robotic head was an understatement.

"Wow!" he cried in excitement, taking the head out of her hands and turning it over in his own, inspecting every detail. "Look at the model! It seems so unpretentious, but wow is it so multifaceted! Oh look, it even has a gamma camera that detects Radio Isotopes! Oh, and look at – "

His brothers groaned collectively as he began to ramble on about something else that they did not understand.

Karai could not hold back a fond smile as she watched them. No doubt, they were highly skilled ninjas, and were very dangerous; she had seen as such first-hand. But looking upon them now, they acted as any other teenager would; laughing and joking around, and even wrestling with each other, like any boy would with his brothers. It made her almost jealous.

As Karai sat with them in the nest of pillows, she caught sight of April's discarded bag on the side. Curious, she picked it up and opened it, revealing several drawings and even a few photographs of her and the turtles together on the farm. She flicked through them one by one, chuckling at some of the silly ones of Raph and Mikey about to pounce on an unsuspecting Donatello.

April walked past her from the kitchen and noticed her looking through her picture album. She took a seat next to her.

"These are good…" Karai said softly, stopping as she came upon a picture of Leonardo leaned against a tree in the sunlit forest with his arms folded, and a small smile spread across his face. Raph had his arm slung around his shoulder, grinning at the camera with a wink and a thumbs-up.

"Oh, thanks" April said, "The camera was an old one but Donnie was able to modify it so that it took high quality photos. These were taken just after Raph woke up…"

"Do you think…I could have one?" Karai asked hesitantly.

April stared at her for a moment. Was she really this tentative around them? She had earned their trust (apart from Raphael, who still remained cynical about her). Maybe she never had any real friends beforehand, and so was quite awkward around people treating her this way. This made April incredibly sad inside; of course, who would have time for friendship whilst training to be a kunoichi under an insane heartless crime lord?

April gave her a friendly smile. "Sure, why not?" she replied kindly.

Karai smiled back and picked up the one with Leo and Raph leaned against the tree.

Leonardo watched the two human girls as they immersed into a friendly conversation. He himself was very sceptical of Karai at first, especially after having a knife near his neck just the other day. But as he gazed at her now, just talking to April as if they were old friends, he felt that he could finally trust her completely. After all, she was also a link to them finding their Sensei, defeating The Foot, stopping the M.O.U.S.E.R.S, saving the city…

…and maybe becoming something more…

Karai suddenly turned, feeling someone's eyes on her, and caught sight of him leaning against the wall watching them. She sent him a smile.

It was only a small one, but it sped his heart rate up like a rocket.

A blush formed on his face as he came off the wall, rubbing the back of his head nervously, turning left and right before awkwardly shuffling over to where Raphael sat in a pile of pillows feeding his new pet turtle. As he sat next to him, he noticed Raph looking at him suspiciously.

"What?" Leo asked.

"...You like her, don't you?" Raph probed flatly.

Leo's mouth fell wide open as he blushed deeply. "No! N-no I don't!" he protested, but of course, his efforts to deny were futile against Raph, who could read him like a comic book.

"You so like her, dude" he scoffed as he returned to feeding Spike a piece of lettuce that had not spoiled in the fridge.

Leo sighed in defeat as he rested his chin in his hand, gazing at the black haired kunoichi. He could not deny it anymore; she was beautiful. Sure she may have been under the employ of their enemy, and sure she had tried to kill him over a week ago…but even then he had found her quite attractive. But as he gazed upon her now, her smile, her hair, her eyes, her laugh, her dangerous and somewhat rebellious attitude…she had officially captured his heart.

Not only that, but she was one hell of a good fighter. She was perfect for him!

Raph saw his older brothers' look of longing and sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Well, I can't really blame you," he said nonchalantly, "I can see how you think she's hot…in an evil kind of way…"

Despite the slight unkindness in his comment, Leo could not help but laugh a little. "Well don't worry; I know I can trust her. She's earned it…"

Raph's expression turned serious as he slung his arm over Leo's shoulders, bringing him closer to him so he could whisper to him discreetly, "Well, if you trust that she's on our side, then I know I can't stop you. But let me ask you one thing: she's told us everything we need to know about The Shredder guy…but how come she hasn't told us where Splinter is yet?"

It was then that Leo faltered. He turned to glance at her. Come to think of it, why _hadn't_ she told them where their Sensei was? Could it be that she really was planning something against them…?

Leo shook his head. "...it's been a long night. We'll ask her after we rest up…" he said with slight uncertainty in his voice.

Raphael scoffed as he unslung his arm from Leo's shoulders. There really was no fighting with his 'straight-minded' leader was there? "Whatever you say, 'fearless love-struck leader'" he chortled.

Leo pouted. Dammit Raph.

Michelangelo appeared from his bedroom moments later, yawning and stretching. "Man, I could really go for some 'deep-dish' action right about now…" he mumbled.

Karai looked up. "Oh, I just had some pizza last night, there might be some leftover in that fridge of yours - "  
Mikey, Raph and Donnie snapped their wide eyed gazes to her.

"What kind?" Mikey asked seriously.

"...Pepperoni"

Instantly, Mikey and Donnie were on their feet and running frantically to the kitchen. It had been days since they had had a pizza of any sort, and there was one waiting for them in the fridge with their names beautifully engraved on it.

Raph quickly stood up and patted Leo's head. "Screw everything I just said about her! I like her! Go out with her and make her bring us pizza!" he said hastily before running after his two brothers into the kitchen. They could already hear them fighting over the last few slices of pepperoni pizza.

Leo shook his head and sighed. "Some ninjas…" he muttered.

"What was that about going out with me?"

Leo froze, his eyes growing wide and mouth agape. He slowly turned to Karai, who was staring at him coyly, with April behind her, desperately holding back her laughter. Leonardo's cheeks turned a furious shade of crimson as he got up and ran away from the pit and into his room, mumbling something incoherent as he covered his face with his hands.

Karai smiled.

* * *

Later that night, the turtles were fast asleep in the pit, covered in blanket and pillows. They had fallen asleep in a dog pile; Leo resting his head on Raph's shell, Donnie lying on Leo's shoulder, and Mikey lying over both their laps, snoring heavily.

April slept soundly on the other side of the pit next to Karai, who was tossing and turning restlessly in her sleep. Voices echoed in her dreams…

...

_"…You are here because the outside world rejects you…"_

_..._

"…_And you have no one to go to, Karai?"_

_..._

_"…This is your family…"_

_..._

_"…All fathers care for their children…"_

_..._

_"…I am your father…"_

_..._

_"…how can a face so young, wear so many burdens?"_

_..._

_"…Then lay there, filthy vermin. Until you **perish** in your own **blood**!"_

_..._

_"…My ears are open...if you care to use them…"_

...

Karai jolted awake, her face dripping with sweat. She sat up and held her head in her trembling hands.

She could not go on like this. This endless battling between her loyalties to her father and doing the right thing.

She had never cared about doing the right thing before. Whatever she did, if it was fun, then she would screw the rules and go do it. Now however, she was involved in something so much bigger. She had begun to develop feelings for these turtles over the course of a few hours, and it hurt her upon thinking about what they had put them through.

She glanced at the sleeping pile of turtles, all in deep slumber and snoring lightly. She stood up, and like a true ninja, silently made her way out of the lair, through the sewer tunnels, and back onto the damp streets of the surface world, slipping open the manhole cover and crawling out of the hole.

She needed help. She needed to see him alone one more time.

Little did she know however, that as she closed the cover again and ran back to The Foot Headquarters, she was being watched by a shadowy masked figure from a vehicle parked on the curb…

* * *

Being careful not to be spotted, Karai progressed from shadow to shadow within the underground lair, swiftly making her way to the place where she knew – where she hoped – the prisoner was still being held.

She landed silently in front of the rat only to receive a shock as she gasped slightly.

His eyes were closed and his head hung low. His face was badly beaten, bruises appearing all over, and dried up blood crusted on his lower lip.

She frowned deeply; Chris Bradford, her fathers' finest pupil besides herself, must have been given orders to question him further while she was gone.

Apparently, he had gone too far with his so-called 'interrogation'.

His ear twitched as she landed before him, and he opened his eyes and raised his head to her. He gave her a warm yet somnolent smile. "I have not…seen you…in many days…" he said wearily. Clearly, he was losing whatever strength he had left.

"I've been in my hideout a lot lately…" she said as she sat in front of him, crossing her legs and resting her elbows on her knees, "I had some things to think about…about my father's intention…he's always told me that he and that Blister Stickman guy are trying to help this city by overthrowing the liars that control it with their tyranny by using the foot clan and the M.O.U.S.E.R.S...But I don't see why... " she trailed off.

She had watched these turtles. They were just like any other teenagers. Despite how rough they acted around each other, or how dangerously they fought, they had seemed so childlike, innocent even, full of hope that they would defeat their enemies and save this rat.

What would killing them accomplish?

The rat gave her an understanding nod. "And do you hide…from your surrogate family…and your father as well?" he asked curiously.

Karai shrugged and cast her gaze downward. "I don't know…I just…after what you said…"

He released a small chuckle. "So…you _have_ been listening to me?"

Karai nodded once with a small smile, but refused to look at him.

"…I once had a family too, Karai…a human family…"

Karai raised her head and stared at him. "You were a human once?"

He nodded again. "Yes. My name is Splinter. But back then, I was a man, who went by the name Hamato Yoshi. When I was a young man, I fell in love with a woman. Her name was Tang Shen. And I was not the only one who loved her. There was another man competing for her attention…Oroku Saki…"

Karai gasped. "…The Shredder…?"

Splinter nodded. "Yes. Years ago, Oroku Saki had been my friend. But the love of the woman, Tang Shen, came between us. He could not accept it. And over time our rivalry festered into hatred. And his jealousy turned outward in a vengeful attack. And while he could not defeat me that day, my world fell and crumbled around me. As the battle took the life of my beloved Tang Shen…and I lost my baby daughter…Miwa."

Splinter looked up at Karai, who stared at him in shock of his tale, slight tears forming in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Taking in a deep breath to choke back his own sadness, he continued.

"…Now, fifteen years after the events in Japan, he resides in New York, training his own army of Ninjas to take over this city…and you wear his symbol upon your armour…"

Karai touched her gauntlet that held the symbol of The Foot embellished on it. She glanced down at it.

Her father was a murderer. A heartless killer. He took the lives of a mother and her child over his own jealousy, which resulted in him turning insane from anguish. He ruined this rat's – no – this man's life once before, taking all he had ever loved and burning them along with all his memories.

And now, years later, he had unknowingly found him again, taken him captive, brutally beat him, and was now after the only thing he had left in his world to hang onto – the turtles. They were more than is friends. They were more than his disciples.

They were his sons. His children.

And she had almost killed them too.

She would have been no better than The Shredder if she had not hesitated in killing Leonardo that night. She still had her humanity. The Shredder did not.

It was finally clear in that moment, that Karai realized who The Shredder really was. He was not her father.

He was a monster.

"_…Karai_."

She let out a gasp as she stood up and spun around to come face to face with The Shredder, who was glaring down at her suspiciously. Bradford stood behind him with his arms folded smugly.

Karai mentally cursed herself. He must have seen her come and sneak into the lair. She kept forgetting she was not the only highly trained ninja in this hellhole that The Shredder had created.

"What are you doing in here?" Shredder inquired slowly.

"Nothing, father," Karai explained, trying to appear casual whilst holding down the new-born anger within her, "I was interrogating the rat again for any new information."

The Shredder did not lose his glare. "Where have you been?" he probed.

"Scouting the city for the turtles, as you ordered. I've found nothing so far, but we are getting close – "

"– You are _lying_ to me."

Karai faltered. Of course he knew she was lying; he was a master of ninjitsu, as well as the man who had raised her for almost her entire life. He could see right through her act.

"No I'm not," she protested futilely, "I was – "

Shredder silenced her by unsheathing his blades from his gauntlet and raising them to her neck. She froze in place, her eyes wide and fearful. He had never done this to her before, not even when she failed her mission in killing the turtles.

After all this time, was he finally slipping?

"Yes. You _are_," he sneered, and noticed a folded piece of paper in the magenta belt around her Shinobi shokuzo. "…and you are hiding something as well…"

Sheathing his blades, he slowly reached down his hand and snatched the folded paper from her belt. He unfolded it, and his glare intensified upon staring at the picture of Leonardo. He slid his angered glare back to Karai, who watched him in rare fear.

Shredder turned to Bradford. "…They're_ back_!" he growled.

Splinter's head turned up at this. His eyes became wide and afraid. They had returned? Why would they ever come back?

Shredder noticed Splinter's reaction to his words. He scoffed. "It seems that you indeed have something to do with those turtles," he remarked spitefully, "but it does not matter now…by tonight…"

He unsheathed his blade, slicing the picture of Leonardo in half, his head severed from his body as it floated down to the floor.

"…they will be no more."

Shredder turned and left the room, his cape flowing behind him as he strode away. Bradford followed after him, casting a conceited smirk at Karai and the rat.

Karai growled. She was not going to let them get away with harming this family anymore.

Casting one last apologetic look at Splinter, she silently trailed after Shredder and Bradford, hiding behind boxes to avoid being spotted. She could just hear the two conversing on their next plan.

"There will be no mistakes this time," Shredder commanded "I will now destroy the turtles myself."

"…as for the rat…?" Bradford inquired.

"…It is of no use to me now…Kill it."

Karai gasped. He was going after the turtles _himself_?! They were going to kill Splinter?!

Karai watched as Shredder left Bradford as he called out to more Foot members, ordering them to go and find where the turtles were hiding, and ordered Baxter Stockman to send out more M.O.U.S.E.R.S. There was no way she could stop them both in time.

One way or another, no matter what she did, someone was going to die that night.

Suddenly, a hand slapped over her mouth and dragged her backwards. She swung and kicked at her attacker furiously, but they were strong enough to keep their hold. She was spun around to face them, only to find that he was wearing a hockey mask that resembled a skull.

"_What do you want_?!" she muffled through the hand covering her mouth. The man pulled off the mask and glared at her. Karai's eyes widened.

It was Casey.

"Recognize me now, chick?" he sneered, "I thought you said we could trust you, and then you go running back to the Foot? You smug, bratty, lying little b-"

Before he could finish his accusing, and very rude sentence, Karai slapped his hand away from her mouth and pushed him off her. "Shut up and listen! You have to come with me!" she stammered.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"They're going to kill Splinter!"

Casey stared at her in shock. From what he recalled, Splinter was the turtles' 'sensei', which he presumed meant their mentor. But he was also their only father.

And the Foot were going to kill him.

Casey nodded in understanding. "Where is he?"

Karai nodded back in silent thanks and ran in the direction of the room where Splinter was kept, Casey close on her heels.

She prayed they would make it in time.


	19. Chapter 19: Operation: Stomp-Out!

**A/N: This was a chapter that was both very hard and very fun to write! If any of you have watched any Tyler Banks 'Madea' movies, then you'll probably get the refrence! Also, I loved the naming of this chapter, I love you Mikey! Also, I have no idea of the extent Casey's fear of rats goes as of right now, so i just had to wing it.**

**I OWN NOTHING! NOT EVEN MADEA!**

**Also, I hated Chris Bradord for what he did to Mikey, so I have a little surprise for him...**

_**Mreehehehehehe!**_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 19: Round One – 'Operation Stomp-Out'**

In the dark of the night, dozens upon dozens of Foot soldiers flooded the streets, halting as they reached the manhole covers that lead to the mutant turtles' hideout. One by one, they leapt down into and trekked their way through the sewers in search for what would soon become the turtles' graves.

* * *

"Raph! Raph, get up!"

Raphael groaned as he smacked away the hand that was shaking him, and ducked his head back under the covers of his warm blanket. "Urg…Five mo' minutes, mom…" he mumbled tiredly.

Leonardo rolled his eyes skyward. They did not have time for this. He could hear the Foot approaching, and although they seemed a long way off (presumably lost in the tunnels), it would not be long before they showed up. He needed to get his brothers up and prepare them for the coming battle…and even that was a battle in itself.

"Raph! Get. _UP_!" he ordered vociferously. Raph hunched himself further under the covers, further ignoring his older brothers' commands.

Leo sighed heavily.

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Squaring his shoulders, Leo slipped underneath the covers and shuffled himself to lie on his side, close enough to meet Raph's face. He poked his snout several times until his eyes slowly opened.

Raph blinked a few times as he allowed his vision to adjust in the darkness. His eyes snapped wide open at the sight of Leo lying next to him with one of the most chilling glares he had ever sent him.

"You'd better get your ass out of this bed," he hissed evenly, "or I'm gonna shove my foot so far up it you won't be sitting for a _year_…now, _**GET UP**_!"

Raph scrambled out the sheets with a high pitched yelp and stood up, his eyes wide and disturbed beyond all reason. "Dude, what is _wrong_ with you?!" he screeched, waking Donnie, Mikey and April around him.

"Uggh…dudes, I thought we were gonna get some sleep tonight," Mikey whined tiredly as he yawned and stretched his stiffened limbs, "what's the dealeo, man?"

"The Foot are coming!" Leo whispered loudly.

Now they were all wide awake. They listened intently at the sounds of many footsteps echoing in the sewer tunnels.

For ninjas, they were not very silent.

"Oh. Right." Raph spoke simply.

"What do we do now, Leo?" Mikey asked worriedly.

Leo faced his youngest brother with a cocky smile. "Don't tell me you forgot Phase One already, Mikey? After all, _you_ named it!"

Recollection spread across Mikey's face as he grinned ecstatically. "Oh yeah!" he cried, pumping his fist into his palm.

"'**Operation: Stomp-Out'**!"

* * *

It was not long until The Foot soldiers finally arrived at the entrance of the turtle lair. As one unit, they charged into the abandoned subway station, weapons drawn and ready. However, they were surprised to find that the place was empty, aside from an orange cat and a large turtle, who sat contently in the centre of the pit, staring at the soldiers blankly.

The Foot stared at each other in confusion, before smoke abruptly filled the room, blinding all the unsuspecting ninjas.

In the thickness of the smoke, grunts and cries of pain could be heard as the soldiers were kicked, punched and beaten down one by one. Soon, the smoke finally cleared, revealing four large mutant turtles standing smugly over several unconscious ninjas.

Michelangelo laughed as he planted his hands on his hips. "Dudes! No sweat!"

Raphael walked to the centre of the pit and picked up Spike, heading towards his room and placing him on his bed. He pet him lightly on the nose. "Good job, buddy" he chuckled, before leaving the room and shutting the door securely behind him. He returned just as Mikey left his own room to hide Klunk safely away.

He twirled his Sai in his hands and smirked. "Well, I _do_ hope there's more of them!"

At that moment, Raphael's wish was granted as more Foot ninjas poured in from the entrance, followed closely by dozens of the M.O.U.S.E.R.S robots Karai had shown to them earlier, all screeching and snapping their mechanical jaws at them. The turtles drew their weapons as they prepared themselves.

"Whoa! You've _really_ gotta stop saying things like that!" Mikey whined, gulping nervously at the number of Foot soldiers now surrounding him and his brothers. They were not very strong, but he knew from experience that they were difficult to handle in numbers. Last time they fought this many soldiers, they had almost died from the number of wounds alone.

And they had almost lost Raph…

"Don't worry, Mikey. We can take these guys down this time, no problem!" Raph reassured him.

Mikey glanced at him, before nodding with a confident smile. Raph winked at his little brother.

Without warning, the four turtles plunged into battle.

* * *

"How many of you guys are there?!"

"Over a thousand! And half of them are after the turtles!"

"Oh great! Just _great_!"

Karai and Casey were running towards the prison, but were constantly being blocked off by soldiers left over to secure the area from any intruders.

This meant Casey Jones, and now Karai herself.

They fought past the soldiers, desperately trying to make it to Splinter before Bradford did. However, with this many Foot soldiers blocking their path, that was looking slimmer by the minute.

Luckily, Karai was a high ranking kunoichi, her skills being far superior to the rest of the armatures who dared call themselves ninjas. And Casey, to her surprise, was doing rather well in fending off the rest of them; in fact, he seemed to be enjoying it.

After what seemed like an eternity of fighting through countless soldiers, the two finally reached the prison. Karai sighed in relief to find that Splinter was still alive, but still bound in chains. As she ran to retrieve any keys or whatever thing they could use to cut the chains, Casey stared nonplussed at the rat kneeling before him.

'_This is Splinter?_' he thought, '_the turtles' dad…is a rat_?'

Casey tried to keep himself under control. He had all but forgotten until now of his massive fear of rats. But this was no ordinary rat. He was a _seven foot tall mutant rat_…

But he was also sensei, as well as a father of four sons that desperately needed him.

If they were to get him out of there alive, he needed to control his fears. He took a deep breath and released it with a long sigh.

"…Okay then…" he shrugged, before turning to Karai. "Where are the keys?" he urged, only to have a Katana placed in his hands. "Okay, that works too".

As Casey and Karai set to work about untying Splinter, the wounded and weakened rat looked over to the young black haired boy. "Who…are you?" he asked in a weary voice.

Casey looked up at the giant rat and smiled, (despite his rapidly beating heart that he was sure the rat could hear) revealing the gap in his teeth. "I'm the one and only Casey Jones!" he said proudly.

Splinter raised a furry brow at him, as if to say, 'Am I supposed to know what that means?'

"Oh," Casey said, before elaborating in a more serious tone, "…I'm a friend."

Splinter nodded to him as the chains finally broke around his wrists and cross his chest. Splinter fell forwards o his hands and knees as he tried to stand up, for he was still far too weak to stand on his own yet. Karai and Casey quickly but gently helped him to his feet, hooking his arms around their shoulders as they lead him out of the room.

"Where do you think _you're_ going?"

All three looked up to see Bradford stood at the exit with his arms folded as he glared at them. Many of the delinquent teenagers were stood behind him, including Danny.

"So…you would betray your own clan – your own father – Karai, to help a couple of freaks like him?" Bradford chuckled, "How very disappointing. But not at all surprising, considering how rebellious you have always been. You are no better than the lying scum on the street that Master Shredder wishes to destroy."

Karai glared fiercely at Bradford. He was not going to get away with that remark.

Casey stared at Bradford for a moment. "Is it me, or does he look like Chuck Norris?"

Splinter and Karai stared at him flatly.

He shrugged. "What?"

* * *

Leonardo kicked and sliced at the many Foot soldiers and M.O.U.S.E.R.S that charged at him, sighing slightly in frustration. "Man, these M.O.U.S.E.R things are _really_ annoying!" he growled as he hacked at another robot that threatened to take a chomp out of his leg.

Donatello grunted as he used his Bo staff to jab and whack hard at approaching Foot soldiers, swiping it underneath their feet as they plummeted to the floor. "True, but you gotta give that Boxer guy some credit, Leo!" Donnie replied, "the design is unpretentious, yet very intricate, and also if you look closely at –"

"Yeah, that's really interesting, Donnie!" Raphael yelled sarcastically from the other side of the room, jabbing at the ninjas and throwing hard punches with a grin of pure delight on his face. "Ah, sweet revenge!" he cried jubilantly.

From above the battle ground, April lay hidden on the pipes that hung on the ceiling, glaring down in concentration at the fight below her, armed with a baseball bat Casey had left behind. She watched carefully as Michelangelo repeatedly hit a Foot soldier with his nunchaku, pushing and whacking him in her direction.

"A little to the right…a little to the left…one more time…and stop!"

Mikey looked up as April leapt down with a furious war cry upon the soldier, hitting him hard over the head with her bat, knocking him out cold. She landed next to Mikey with a grin.

"You're a natural, sis!" Mikey laughed.

April placed a hand on her hip and winked. "Thanks."

Donnie landed beside April just as a Foot soldier came up behind her to strike her down, taking him out with a single sweep of his staff. April turned and smiled. "Thanks, Donnie."

Donnie smiled, a slight blush tinting his cheeks. "You are so welcome!" he laughed. He suddenly turned serious as he leaned in close to April's ear and whispered, "You know what to do now, right?"

April nodded. "I know the way to the building. I'll be fine. Just give me the bag and I'll take care of it." Donnie nodded and handed April the bag with the device inside. April gave him a reassuring thumbs-up before running and batting her way past attacking Foot as she made her way to the exit of the lair.

This had to work.

* * *

Bradford closed in on the mutant and the human teenagers with killing intent. Casey stood in front of Splinter protectively, holding out his hockey stick and preparing to swing. "Alright, pal" he snarled, covering his face with his mask, "Let's dance!"

Casey charged at Bradford and swung his stick hard, but Bradford easily side-stepped his attack and landed a hard punch in his face, sending the boy flying into a pile of wooden boxes, the force of his punch shattering the mask on his face in the process.

Casey stood up shakily to his feet, spitting out blood as he glared daggers at the large man. "That's gonna cost ya, Tinkerbelle!" he yelled as he went for another hit, only to end up with the same results, only this time with a painful spinning back kick in the stomach.

Splinter and Karai hissed in sympathy. "I felt that one." Splinter noted.

Karai hummed in agreement before setting Splinter down gently on the floor, drawing out her sword and charging for Bradford as the two engaged in battle. Though Karai was a very skilled kunoichi, using speed and agility to her advantage, Bradford held more strength and muscle as well as height, and was able to knock Karai hard to the ground alongside Casey within moments.

Karai spat out blood as Bradford cracked his knuckles and chortled at their helpless forms. It was then that Karai spotted a stray golf club lying next to Casey's right hand. She motioned her head towards it.

Casey looked from the club to her, grinning in realization.

As Bradford readied for the final blow, Casey grabbed the golf club and with all the force he could muster, swung it directly into his unmentionables.

As Bradford cried out in agony, the entire room filled with sympathetic hisses.

"I felt that one as well," Splinter chuckled.

As Bradford stood there hunched over and clutching his mid-section, Casey stood up and aimed the club to his head. "_**FORE**_!" he cried out before swinging the club, sending Bradford flying across the room and into a tower of wooden boxes. The tower collapsed on him, knocking him out in the process as it buried him.

Casey's grin was of undisguised glee as he kissed the golf club. "I'll never call golf a dull game again!"

More left over Foot ninja began to pour into the room, running past the stunned teenagers that had followed Bradford and charging for the two intruders. Casey and Karai glanced at each other. They nodded once in understanding as they prepared themselves for 'Round Two'.

* * *

"Raph! Link up!" Leo called from the other side of the pit as he drop-kicked another ninja. Raph grinned and leapt over to his older brother. They were shell to shell as the ninjas surrounded them…perfect.

With a final nod, Raph and Leo linked their arms together as Raph hoisted him off the floor and began rotating in a spiral motion as Leo kicked out at commencing soldiers, watching as they all went down one by one like rocks. As soon as they were all defeated, Raph released his brother as they shared a grin of unconcealed pleasure.

"Hug me brother!" Raph cried as he launched himself at his older brother and wrapped his arms roughly around his shoulders. Leo laughed as he stumbled backwards slightly and hugged his brother back. They released each other and returned, weapons drawn, into the fray.

"_**Gangway**_!" Mikey cried jubilantly as he used his skateboard to fly past several ninjas, avoiding their swings and attacks as he whizzed past them. He whipped out and spun his nunchaku, hitting several Foot soldiers as he raced by.

Donnie followed shortly after on his own skateboard, whacking and jabbing soldiers as he flew past after Mikey. They laughed as hey skidded to a stop, pumping their fists together and making an explosion with their hands.

Raph stared at them with a scowl. "Show-offs!" he called, smashing his fist into the face of a Foot soldier without looking.

Leo shook his head with a smirk.

* * *

Casey dusted his hands off as the last of The Foot soldiers were defeated, dozens lying on the floor, either knocked out or groaning in pain. Karai sheathed her sword, and the two shared a triumphant grin. They then glared at the group of teenagers who had yet to attack, or even move at all.

Casey spotted Danny among them as he stepped forwards. "What are we standing here for; let's get 'em!" he barked.

Casey leaned heavily on his golf club. "You wanna be first, junior?" he asked threateningly. If one more guy got knocked for being cocky, it did not bother him in the least.

Danny looked hesitant, but did not step back. "We have a loyalty to The Shredder!" he argued firmly.

"…The Shredder uses you!"

All eyes turned to Splinter as he tried to get to his feet, but Karai was quick to assist him, once again wrapping his arm over her shoulder. He continued shakily, "He poisons...your minds...to obtain that...which he desires. He cares nothing for you...or the people you hurt…!"

At Splinters' words, the group of juveniles glanced at each other uncertainly. "We're a family…" Danny insisted.

Casey ground his teeth together in anger, taking a threatening step towards the younger adolescents. "_Family_?" he seethed and gestured at the unconscious Bradford, "Is that what you said? You call this here and that guy down there _"family"_?

"I've always thought I never fit in with normal people, just like you guys, and I've never had a real family myself. But I've seen one up close. The one that you and your dumb Foot guys and that Shredder chump almost ripped apart. And all for what?! Some stupid plan you guys got to take over New York?! _Pathetic_! Because of you guys, those kids almost lost their minds, and their lives!

"But y'know what? Despite everything you asses put them through, they still stuck together. They still wanna fight to the finish and save the city and the only person in the world that they have to call a father. Could you bunch of pukes do the same if that happened to _you_?!"

The youths all glanced at each other, no one saying a word.

"…I didn't think so…" Casey scoffed and shook his head in disgust. He went over to Splinters' side and supported him alongside Karai.

"…Casey…" Splinter said.

Casey only looked up to the large mutant rat and smiled. Splinter smiled back gratefully as they finally made their way to the exit, the group of delinquents moving out of their way as they walked steadily passed.

Karai glared at them over her shoulder and declared, "I choose to help this family. What will you choose?" She did not wait for an answer as they left the room.

A though hit Casey in that moment. "Wait a sec. What about those mice thingies?" he inquired of Karai.

"You mean the M.O.U.S.E.R.S?" Karai corrected, "The guys are probably handling a few of them right now. The remaining thousands of them however..." a sly grin appeared across her face.

Suddenly, a large fiery explosion detonated from the lab in which the M.O.U.S.E.R.S where being produced. Karai and Casey shielded themselves and Splinter from the flying debris and robot body parts that flew through the air. They looked up again to find April O'Neil striding proudly out of the smoke, gripping Baxter Stockman by his pink sweater with her left hand, and her baseball bat in the other.

"I think I have that covered," she proclaimed smugly as she stood before them, planting a hand on her hip.

The three stared incredulously at the red head stood before them. Her hair and clothes were covered in ash, and she had a small bruise on her face, but other than that, she seemed completely fine. Better than they could say for Baxter Stockman that is, whose hair was slightly singed and his face and clothing completely covered in pitch black ash.

Casey's jaw dropped in shock, Splinter continued to stare at her, whilst Karai grinned and laughed. "Nice!" she praised.

April flicked her hair back and examined her bat. "Yeah…I know." She replied in mocked complacency.

"How could you?!" Baxter whined next to her, "How could you destroy my life's work?! My greatest success, my precious – "

April growled and pointed her bat forebodingly to the skinny scientists' head. "Shut it, unless you want another clonk on the head, Blister Stockboy!"

"It's Baxter Stock – oh, forget it…"


	20. Chapter 20: The Gauntlet

**A/N: This chapter filled me with a mixture of feels, nostalgia and a lot of nightmares (because I had to listen to Higurashi No Naka Koro Ni OST to get into the right mood! Ugh!)**

**Also, if any of you guys watched the older series or The Nostalgia Critic review on the old series, then you'll get the joke i put in here.**

**I DO NOT OWN TURTLES, OR NOSTALGIA CRITIC!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 20: Round 2 – 'The Gauntlet'**

The streets were flooding with rapidly fleeing Foot ninjas as they retreated from the sewers and back out into the cold night. However, the turtles were not far behind. They were not about to let them slip away so easily after all of this.

"Hey, dudes! Where're you going?!" Mikey called out with a laugh as he and his brothers followed the soldiers out of the sewers and into the open, empty streets. The fight continued on the surface, this time with much smaller members of The Foot clan, and even fewer M.O.U.S.E.R.S

This battle was theirs!

"Turtles fight with honour!" Leonardo declared jubilantly as he sliced another M.O.U.S.E.R head.

Raphael stared at his older brother stupefied, whilst holding a struggling Foot soldier in a headlock. "Yeah…because…turtles don't _'not'_ fight with honour…" Raph chortled, looking down to the soldier trapped in his grip, "you should know that, Foot clan!"

Donatello knocked the imprisoned soldier over the head, watching as he fell limp to the ground. "After that, I don't think he'll remember!" he joked.

"It's Leo, why would anyone _want_ to?" Raph laughed. Leo pouted in embarrassment and returned into the fray with his brothers.

As Michelangelo expertly back flipped over a soldier and took him out from behind, he called out to Donatello over his shoulder, "Hey, Donnie! Looks like this ones' suffering from _'Shell Shock'_!"

Donnie rolled his eyes. "Nope. Too derivative" he commented flatly, swiping his Bo staff underneath several soldiers.

"Boy, I guess we can really _'Shell'_ it out!" Mikey tried again with a laugh.

He heard his brothers groan collectively across the battleground. Even a few Foot Ninjas groaned.

"Ugh, and I thought Leo's jokes were lame" Raph deadpanned.

"_Hey!_" Leo cried defensively.

"Too cliché there, Mikey!" Donnie snorted.

Mikey flipped whacked his nunchaku over the heads of several unfortunate soldiers as he tried one last time. "Well, it was a _'Shell'_ of a good hit!"

Donnie could not bite back a smirk. "I like it!" he laughed finally, using his Bo staff to launch himself over numerous Foot soldiers whilst smacking it down over their heads and landing on his feet expertly.

In the distance, Donatello caught a glimpse of a fiery mushroom cloud, bursting from the roof of the old abandoned church. Donnie grinned.

April had made it.

"She is so _cool!_" he stated dreamily, before returning his attention to the battle around him.

The Foot began to retreat to the rooftops, climbing and leaping to the fire escapes. But of course, the turtles were once again not far behind them.

"Hey, where do you think _you're_ going?!" Leonardo mocked as he and Raphael pursued the ninjas up the fire escapes and fought them there.

Donatello saw more Foot sneaking up on them from below as they engaged in the tight-spaced battle, and rushed off to assist them.

Michelangelo realized he had defeated the remaining soldiers on the ground and saw that his older brothers were moving onto the roof without him. "Hey! Wait for me!" he called. "You guys_ always_ leave me out of the fun!"

Leo turned at his brother's call, only to see a leftover ninja take up his axe and swing it to his younger brother's neck.

"_**MIKEY!**_" he shrieked in horror as his brothers' head disappeared from his shoulders.

However, his head spontaneously reappeared from his shell as he turned and knocked out the offending ninja that had almost decapitated him.

"GOD I LOVE BEING A _TURTLE!_" he bellowed gloriously as he ran to join his brothers on the fire escape. They gave out a heavy sigh of relief, as well as a roll of their eyes and unsuppressed grins at their baby brothers' remark.

Mikey would never change.

The battle continued on the rooftop, with the turtles quickly gaining the upper hand once again. Ever since the incident at April's apartment, the four turtles had grown stronger, not just in body and mind, but in spirit. There was no way they were going to be beaten this time.

This time, they were going to save the city, and at long last find their Sensei.

Leonardo knocked out the last of The Foot soldiers as they all laid unconscious on the roof. Other Members came only to retrieve their fallen comrades and retreat. With that, the turtles sheathed their weapons and stood proudly beside each other.

"So," Leonardo began confidently, "to sum up; we kicked the butts of the Foot, whilst having April destroy the M.O.U.S.E.R.S factory, with Donnie's awesome custom made bomb, and permanently saving the city from 'The Silent Crime Wave'. Gentlemen, I'd say we officially, as Raph would say, 'Kicked some Serious Ass' tonight!"

"Dudes! We. Are. AWESOME! High-three!" Michelangelo cried out elatedly as the four brothers commenced a 'high three', laughing as they performed a mini celebratory dance on the roof. They had defeated their enemies at long last. Now there was only one thing left to do.

"Now, gentlemen," Leo spoke proudly, puffing out his chest and folding his arms heroically. "Let's go and save our sensei."

.

"…_Your skills are impressive_…"

.

The turtles halted in place, craning their heads in search of the owner of the low, deadly voice that froze their blood cold.

Then, out of the shadows, the large bladed figure leapt down before them. "…But they will _not_ save you."

The turtles gaped in horror.

"Oh man," Donnie breathed nervously, "do you think that's…The Shredder?"

"Well it's definitely _**A**_ Shredder!" retorted Raph, as the turtles drew their weapons. From what they had heard from Karai, The Shredder was a very powerful, and very deadly ninja master…and he showed no mercy.

The Shredder slowly approached the mutant turtles, drawing his blades from his gauntlets as he spoke, "There is undoubtedly a fascinating story about how four mutant turtles came to know ninjitsu in the style of my old nemesis. But you have already caused me enough trouble. Now you face...The Shredder."

The Shredder charged.

Raphael was the first to confront him, blocking his attacks and jabbing his Sais into his armour, which he found too late to be almost impenetrable as the tip of his Sai became lodged into his gauntlet. Shredder took that chance to grip Raph by the arm and fling him hard into an electric billboard.

"_RAPH!_" Leo cried as he watched his brother scream in agony as electricity pulsed relentlessly and painfully through his body, before falling limp to the billboard ledge.

Seething in anger, Leonardo charged for Shredder, attempting to slice through the armour with his katanas. Shredder easily avoided his attacks and dropkicked the blue clad turtle to the ground, before sending a hard kick in the stomach, sending him rolling across the roof.

"_LEO!_" Donnie screeched as he ran over to the still body of his older brother, placing a hand over his head and neck to check for a pulse. It was still there. He was alive, but he was hurt. "_You son of a…_" Donatello growled viciously as he bolted towards the man that had hurt his brothers. He repeatedly swung his Bo staff at him, trying to knock off his helmet to get to his head. Shredder merely grabbed the staff and jabbed it hard into Donnie's forehead, before launching him across the roof with a spinning back-kick into his chest.

"DONNIE, _NO!_" shrieked Michelangelo. He quickly took out his Kusarigama chain and hurtled it at The Shredder, who instantly caught the chain and pulled it. Mikey yelped as he was dragged towards The Shredder, and then brutally punched in the stomach. As Mikey rolled across the roof, he flung out several shuriken stars at him, which were evaded easily, before tumbling off the edge of the roof.

Shredder walked over to the edge to see what had become of the turtle. He did not see his body lying on the concrete.

He turned sharply to find Leonardo running toward him with swords drawn. He sliced at The Shredder's armour again, but only resulted in getting knocked away once more. This distraction left an opening for Donatello to attack from the air, bringing his staff down hard against his head. Shredder staggered backwards momentarily, before quickly collecting himself as Leonardo charged him for a third time.

On top of the electric billboard, Raphael's body lay slightly burnt and motionless. Michelangelo climbed up and rushed to his brothers' side, turning his body over to check for injuries by placing his palm against his slightly charred face. He prayed his brother was still alive…

Baby blue eyes met weary emerald as Raph opened his eyes, gently moving his hand from his face. He looked up to Mikey and smiled. Mikey smiled back. He was going to be okay.

But as he heard Donatello scream out in pain from below, he realized if they did not go back down there and help, he and Leonardo would not be.

Leonardo leapt into the air and brought his swords down upon The Shredder, but he was able to once again knock him away with a hard blow to the face. Leonardo spat out blood as Shredder began to corner him against the billboard.

Donatello ran up from behind and swung his staff down upon is shoulder blades, which snapped the staff in half to the purple clad turtles' alarm.

Donatello cried out as Shredder grabbed his head and flung him into Leonardo, knocking them both down onto the ground. He unsheathed his blades from his gauntlet as he loomed over them, preparing to deliver the final blow.

"_GET AWAY FROM THEM!_" bellowed Raphael as he launched himself at The Shredder, grabbing onto him and throwing as many furious punches at his head as he could.

However, Shredder was quickly able to toss Raphael down to the ground, pinning him down with his foot as he prepared to impale the struggling turtle.

Before he could, a chain wrapped around his wrist as Michelangelo hurdled down from the billboard, tugging Shredder from the ground and pulling him into the air, using his kusarigama blade to hang him by his arm, suspended in mid-air.

A sickening crack was heard as Shredder grunted in pain. The damn turtle had almost snapped his arm.

Shredder used his blades to slice at the metal bar holding him up, which in turn caused one of the letters to loosen its hold on the billboard as it fell.

Michelangelo shrieked in terror as the sign fell upon him, nearly crushing him with its weight.

"_**MIKEY!**_" his brothers hollered as they ran to help their baby brother without hesitation.

"We're coming, Mikey! Hold on!" Raph cried as he helped Leo and Donnie lift up the sign crushing their brother. Soon, Mikey was able to crawl out free from underneath the sign, bleeding from a shallow wound on the head. As soon as he was out completely, they dropped the sign and quickly went to his aid, helping him to his feet.

They quickly looked up to see The Shredder standing over them, glaring down at them mercilessly.

* * *

Meanwhile on the damp streets below, Casey, April, Karai and Splinter had finally managed to escape the burning church building and find the place where the turtles had fought The Foot (but in all honesty, with all the unconscious Foot Clan soldiers lying about the street, it was not too hard to find the place.)

They heard grunts and cries of pain from the building above. They looked up and could just catch a glimpse of the turtles in a desperate battle…

…against The Shredder himself.

"No…" Splinter whispered in horror. The Shredder was far too powerful for them to overcome. They would certainly be killed.

Karai also knew for a fact that The Shredder was very powerful, strong enough to take down over a dozen highly trained soldiers all at once. He had never killed them, but they were left with many scars and broken bones that would never heal properly again.

She knew he would not hold back against the turtles.

They were doomed to die by his hands.

Just then, the teenagers from the church, led by Danny, flooded the streets as they too stared up in tremor at the battle commencing above them.

Casey turned and saw them and scoffed. "So much for family…"

* * *

The turtles fell to their knees, bruised and bleeding almost profusely as they panted heavily. Their sweat of exhaustion mixed with their blood as it dripped down onto the roof.

"Now...exactly…at what point...did we lose control here?" Mikey huffed, exhausted from almost being crushed as well as the strain he put on his body as they fought.

Donnie looked to Leo. "Leo…any thoughts?" he asked wearily, he too becoming weak from blood loss.

Leo spat out blood as he turned to The Shredder, who watched them as they bled out onto the roof. "I only have…one thought…" he panted, pointing the honed tip of his sword towards The Shredder. "…he knows where Sensei is!"

With that, the turtles climbed to their feet as they loped towards Shredder, preparing to attack again.

Shredder merely smirked under his mask. These mutants were good, but not nearly good enough. Their persistence to succeed was admirable, but at the same time pathetic.

They were all going to die soon enough.

* * *

April gasped and held her hands over her mouth as she heard her boys shriek in agony once again, hearing the crunching echoes of breaking bones and metal hitting flesh.

This was a nightmare come true. They were being brutally beaten, and she nor Casey nor Karai could do anything to stop it.

Casey turned to Splinter. "Hey, we have to help – wait, where'd he go?"

The three humans turned around to find that the giant rat had vanished. Where did he go? When did he leave?

As they scanned the area for Splinter, Casey noticed some extra Foot Ninjas climbing the fire escape, no doubt in order to help their master in finishing the turtles.

"Oooh...leftovers!" he grinned. He took a quick look behind him at where Danny stood. Danny picked up a stray weapon from one of the unconscious Foot and nodded at Casey. Casey nodded back with a grin as they charged for the fire escape ladder and began to climb after them.

"Casey, Danny, wait, no!" April cried after them, but was stopped short upon seeing Casey swing his golf club and Danny expertly swiping his staff-like weapon left and right, toppling over the ninjas off the staircase.

"_Goongala!_" he cried jubilantly, waving his club in the air. Danny grinned as the two high fived.

As April sated at the vigilante in surprise, Karai nudged her with a smirk. "He's a crazy one, huh?"

April nodded, absent minded.

Casey smirked down at them and flicked his hair back in a smug fashion.

"It's a talent."

* * *

The turtles could not take any more, but they had to keep going. Blood poured out of their many wounds and their breaths came out in ragged huffs, yet they fought on relentlessly.

The Shredder had yet to have even a scratch.

That was until Leonardo managed to finally get close enough to cut the bare skin on his arm, drawing a fair amount of blood. Shredder grunted in pain before kicking Leonardo away from him. He gripped his bleeding arm. The wound was not deep, but it was still a wound, shameful for a powerful ninja master like him to receive from a mere juvenile mutant.

The blue turtle would pay dearly for that.

Leo staggered backwards, losing his footing before Raph caught him and helped him back on his feet. Donnie supported Mikey as they all glared at the bladed man before them.

He advanced on them slowly. He had enjoyed toying with them, but now, it was time to end it.

"Alright, Shred-Head…" Raph growled, pointing the tip of his Sai in his direction, "...where is our sensei?"

Shredder paused in his tracks. He began to chuckle wickedly. "Ah…so the rat, though I cannot fathom how, is the reason why you hideous aberrations know how to battle this way...it _was_ the reason..."

The turtles eyes widened in fear.

He didn't mean…

Leonardo stepped forward in front of his brothers as he bared his teeth and glared at Shredder. "You lie…! YOU'RE A **LIAR!**" he shrieked.

Shredder sneered underneath his helmet. "...am I?" he spat.

The brothers gasped in horror.

"…Sensei…" Michelangelo whimpered as he clutched Donatello desperately.

Raphael stared down at the floor, his eyes wide and unseeing. "…no…" he whispered, his voice trembling.

Donatello gripped Michelangelo back tighter. "…that monster…he…he…" he stuttered fearfully.

Leonardo saw red as his pupils dilated. He snarled like a feral animal at The Shredder, his fists trembling in anger, the force of his grip causing the handles of his katanas to bend from the pressure.

All those years of anger held down deep within – he had let it build, but never surface, in fear he may hurt someone again. So for years he had trained himself to control it, lock it down deep inside himself.

But this man…this monster had mercilessly harmed innocent people, destroyed their home, hurt his brothers…

And now...he had taken their father from them, forever...

.

_Father…no…_

_._

Leonardo reached down deep within himself, brought into being that hidden anger, and finally let it loose.

He shrieked in frenzied rage as he charged for The Shredder, blades drawn with murderous intent.

Behind him, his brothers gasped in terror. "Leo! _No!_" cried Donnie, though his words would not reach him. None of them, not even Raphael himself, had ever seen Leonardo act this way before. It was as if something had finally clicked inside him.

Leonardo had finally snapped.

His brothers' pleas for him to stop went unheard as he charged for The Shredder, swinging his swords at him over and over again ruthlessly. The forms and katas were long gone, only replaced by a blind rage.

He sliced at Shredders' arms and armour, intent on making the monster bleed to death…

…or even rip out the very heart which was wasted on him.

Shredder was cut multiple times, his exposed skin now bleeding in places, but he was able to predict his movements within minutes – he knew from experience that it was easier to read your opponents movements whilst in rage.

Leo shot into the air and brought his sword down upon The Shredders' head. He would cut this abomination's head in two.

However, Shredder caught his blades, and in one swift movement, he unsheathed his own blades from his gauntlet and viciously gored Leonardo in his shoulder.

Leonardo shrieked in agony as blood sprayed out from the wound.

"_**LEONARDO!**_" Raphael shrieked.

Shredder twisted and then dragged his blades out from Leo's flesh and swung him hard onto the floor, a sickening crack echoing through the air as his shell collided with the ground.

Leonardo laid there, his blood flowing out from the wound profusely as he clutched his shoulder, squeezing his eyes shut as tears of pain escaped them as he ground his teeth together, throbbing in pain.

Never before had he felt pain this unbearable before…and it was killing him.

It was their turn to become enraged as Raph, Donnie and Mikey charged for The Shredder. But they froze in their tracks as Shredder held his bloodied blades to Leo's throat, itching closer with each passing second.

Leonardo gasped as he lay wide eyed and frozen on the ground, tilting his head away from his knife blades as much as he could.

"Let him _go!_" Donnie pleaded desperately, but to no avail.

"Drop your weapons..." Shredder threatened, "…Or he dies."

Raph growled at Shredder. He looked to see Leo shaking his head as much as he dared with blades pointed at his throat. "NO! Don't do it!" he cried to them, begging for them to listen.

Raph could see it in his eyes; Leo was terrified. But he knew that if they dropped their weapons, they would all perish.

But seeing his older brother this way, angry and afraid...

"_**Now!**_" Shredder snapped, pushing his blades closer to Leo's neck, who let out a strangled gasp as the honed tips nearly pricked his skin.

They had no other choice. Raphael reluctantly dropped his Sais, never averting his glare away from the beast that towered over his older brother. Donatello dropped his broken staff, and Michelangelo threw a single nunchaku away.

Instead of releasing Leo, however, Shredder began to laugh. "_Fools!_" he spat, "The three of you may have overpowered me with the loss of but one. Now your fate...will be _**his!**_"

Shredder lifted his blades and prepared to end the azure turtles' life.

"_**NOOOOOOO!**_" his brothers screamed.

Leo screamed in terror. Time seemed to slow as his inevitable death neared him.

He shut his eyes and waited for the blow.

'_Sensei…my brothers…I'm sorry I failed you…_'

...

"_**STOP!**_"

.

Everything suddenly came to a halt. Leo slowly opened his eyes and turned his head in the direction of the voice. His eyes became wide at what he saw.

"_Get away from my __**son**_!"

Master Splinter stood on the edge of the roof, glaring at The Shredder with a ferocity that put the mightiest of beats to shame. Shredder glared back in disbelief. How was this rat still alive? How did he escape?

"_**Sensei!**_" the turtles cried.

The Shredder had lied! Their Sensei was alive!

Splinter leapt across the roof and landed a solid punch into Shredder's chest, knocking him away from Leonardo. Shredder was thrown backwards, but flipped and landed on his feet.

Splinter helped Leonardo into a sitting position, holding him close to his chest. Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo were at his side in an instant.

"Take him! Quickly!" Splinter ordered in haste, to which Raphael instantly complied as he quickly but gently picked Leonardo up in his arms bridal style and carried him over to the side of the roof, his brothers closely in tow.

Shredder stood to full height and glared at the rat. Splinter stood up also, crimson liquid staining his hands.

"So, the vermin lives. And it speaks." Shredder sneered.

Splinter assumed a defensive stance, his eyes never straying from the man whom had once been his close friend. "Oroku Saki" he spoke slowly. "This rat that you see before you...is Hamato Yoshi."

Shredder was taken aback, his eyes widening. "_What?!_" he exclaimed, "Hamato Yoshi?! Alive…and a rat?!" he quickly recovered from his shock as he began to laugh maliciously. "I see you are as _hideous_ as the turtles that cling to you!" he spat mockingly, "How fitting...you are a rat...who has been caught in my trap!"

Splinter growled, looking down at his hands. They were painted with blood…the blood of his son that this monster had spilled.

"Look closely at this face, Shredder..." Splinter snarled.

"For it is the last thing _**you will ever see!**_"


	21. Chapter 21: Showdown

**Chapter 21: Showdown**

The four turtles watched in shock as the scene unfolded, clinging to each other desperately and staring at the monstrosity that had endangered their family. Raphael still held onto Leonardo, who held him back whilst gripping his bleeding wound. Michelangelo hid behind Donatello in fear as the two ninja masters prepared to finally face one another.

"Oroku Saki," Splinter began, "You were once my friend…I thought of you as my brother. Fifteen years ago, I was a different man. I had everything I could want…a loving wife, and a beautiful daughter.

"And you…my loyal friend…jealousy consumed you. You sought that which was mine…"

"You took everything that I loved! _Everything!_ And still you hunt me down…!"

Behind crimson eyes, a memory burned within him.

...

_A fierce battle in what was once a loving home…_

...

_A small baby's cry of terror…_

...

_A burning house crumbling around him…_

...

_The lifeless body of his loved one held limp in his arms…_

_..._

Splinter opened his eyes. "So…I fight you now…_To end this!_" Splinter charged for The Shredder with a defiant war cry.

The turtles held their breath as they watched the two ninja masters collide.

Splinter made the first move, launching a spinning back-kick to The Shredder's face before flipping into the air to avoid his blades, landing expertly on his feet. He quickly picked up Leonardo's discarded katana and charged again, the sound of metal banging against metal filling the air.

Shredder thrust his fist into Splinters' face, sending him flying backwards with a grunt of pain, but in a swift movement, Splinter came behind Shredder and brought his blade down upon his head, only narrowly missing as Shredder darted out of the way, bounding into the air and landing on the platform of the billboard sign, ducking away sharply as three shuriken sailed over his head and implanted into the sign above him.

Splinter leapt onto the platform, facing Shredder as he hissed through his fangs.

Shredder used his blades to cut at the platform, causing it to topple forward and making Splinter lose his balance. He came crashing to the roof as he landed hard with a thud on his side.

"Sensei!" he heard his sons cry as he climbed back to his knees, shaking his head to clear the dizziness that clouded his mind.

In his anger and fear to save his sons, he had forgotten that he was still weakened from being imprisoned in chains for so long. His body still had yet to heal from the wounds he had received from his interrogation from both that Bradford man and The Shredder. They were in danger of reopening.

When he looked up again, Shredder was no longer there. He stood up and glanced around him, his blade in front of him at all times. His keen ears pricked up, listening for anything and everything around him.

"Sensei, _look out!_" Michelangelo cried.

Splinter spun around to find The Shredder leaping from his hiding place, his blades drawn and intent on severing his head from his body. Splinter quickly brought his sword up to block his attack, thrusting Shredder backwards and away from him. He looked up again only to find Shredder gone yet again.

He heard a bang of metal behind him and whirled around just in time to see Shredder launching himself towards him another time. Metal clanged and sang in the air as the two ninjas masters engaged in a deadly onslaught, both opponents only narrowly missing their targets as the battle continued.

"Why must you persist in this insanity?!" demanded Splinter.

"You took Tang Shen from me!" Shredder spat back as he bared his blades to the mutant rat.

"She was never yours!" growled Splinter as he charged once again, thrusting his blade to Shredders' armoured chest.

Shredder blocked his attack, pushing against him with all his strength, but Splinter pushed back.

The two locked fierce gazes.

The turtles watched their Sensei as he fought. They had gone against him themselves many times during the course of their training, but they had never once beaten him.

And they had never seen him fight like this before.

Even though he was clearly still injured and weakened from his imprisonment, and some of his wounds had even reopened during the battle, he did not hold back.

He fought with everything left within him, even as his blood dripped out of his lacerations, he continued to fight.

He fought for them, for the people that The Shredder had hurt…

…and for the family he had lost to death so long ago.

"You never had anything but your hatred!" Splinter snarled. His voice trembled with the pure rage and anguish he had held down for fifteen years of torment for his past mistakes, finally letting it surface.

"And if you defeat me…you will have _**nothing!"**_

Shredder finally pushed Splinter off of him and brought his blades down upon him. Splinter back flipped away, landing in a crouch with his blade still in front of him.

Shredder threw his head back and laughed. A laugh that held very little sanity left in it as it echoed in their ears and through the night. Those who stood below watching the battle felt their blood run cold at the sound.

"That, Hamato is where you are _wrong_..." he declared forebodingly. "You took something from me…

"…so now, _**I**_…will take something from _**you**_..."

His head slowly turned to the injured turtles that huddled together on the other side of the building.

Splinter was too late to react. Shredder launched himself at the turtles and drew his blades.

"_**NO!**_" Splinter cried as he ran desperately after The Shredder, but his wounds had finally begun to slow him down as he stumbled to his knees, dropping the katana as it slid across the rooftop. He desperately tried to get up again, but to no avail.

He watched in horror as The Shredder prepared to take away all he had left in this world.

The boys screamed in terror as they shut their eyes and held each other, waiting for the impending death that awaited them.

This was it.

They were going to die.

It was all over.

...

...

...

...

_**"BOOYAKASHAAAA!"**_

.

.  
Michelangelo leapt out in front of his brothers and blocked Shredder's blades, using the single nunchaku he had not thrown away to hold him back.

The Shredder stared down at the youngest turtle in shock; he was able to hold him back with a single weapon! Where did this sudden burst of strength come from?

Splinter stared at the young Michelangelo in breathless shock, as did his brothers behind him. He was protecting them, pushing himself to his limits to shield them from death. All his life, Michelangelo had always been the one to be shielded, surrounded by his brothers so they could keep their baby brother safe.

Not this time.

Now, it was his turn to protect them.

Michelangelo glared at The Shredder with an intense ferocity that he himself never knew he possessed.

"_**You...!**_" he shrieked in a voice that his family had never heard escape from the always jubilant turtle.

_**"You don't get to touch my family ever again!"**_

With a loud, frenzied cry of defiance, Michelangelo pushed The Shredder backwards before launching a hard spinning back-kick into his face. He then flipped onto his hands, and in a spiral-like motion, spun his body around, kicking Shredder repeatedly in the face. He leapt into the air and dropkicked him on the head, the pressure of his foot denting the helmet on contact.

Enraged, Shredder advanced for another attack, but Donatello leapt over Michelangelo with a loud cry and jabbed him in the head hard with his broken staff, whacking and slapping his exposed bloody skin and beating away most of the armour on his shoulders.

Raphael was quick to follow as he repeatedly jabbed the tsuka of his Sais into the areas of armour where Donatello had weakened, causing it to shatter under the pressure.

Just as Shredder was able to push off the red clad turtle, Leonardo had grabbed his discarded katana blade and charged him, despite his grave injury, and began to slice at his breast plate, ripping off large chunks of armour.

The Shredder was becoming overwhelmed. He could barely get his own hit in without being struck from behind or from the side. They just kept coming.

Where did this sudden eruption of power come from? They were all so severely injured, and one of them was still bleeding profusely from the stab wound he had given him, and yet he and his brothers fought like men possessed, as if their wounds had no effect on them whatsoever.

It had appeared that he had greatly underestimated the power these four turtles truly possessed.

Splinter watched them as they overcame The Shredder, pushing him closer and closer to the edge of the roof with every strike.

They fought as one unit, all of them striking hard and precise, no hesitation, no false movements…just as he had trained them.

They were going to defeat The Shredder. They were going to defeat this enemy as one.

As a team.

As brothers.

In faultless unison, the turtles used the last ounce of their strength to leap once more into the air, and with a combined final hard kick, they pushed The Shredder over the edge of the roof. Before he could fall any further, he grabbed onto the ladder from fire escape and hung there.

Below them, Casey, April, Karai and the other juveniles watched in shock.

Karai gasped in amazement. These four turtles, these four young teenagers, were able to take down The Shredder, one of the strongest ninja masters ever known?

She too had greatly misjudged their skills.

April gaped at the scene above her. She had seen them fight and train before. As one they were amazing, but together, they were unstoppable.

"Come on…" Casey urged under his breath, "come on guys! Bring him down!"

Back on the roof, the turtles dropped their weapons and fell to their knees, panting heavily and their wounds dripping with blood. Their fight was not yet won, but they had no more strength left in them. Their injuries were taking their toll, and now they could barely stand.

As Shredder hung weakly by the fire escape ladder, Splinter loomed over him, glaring down coldly at the shell of the man who had once been his loyal friend, and had now been the cause of so much pain and suffering; for both his old family and his new one.

"Death comes for us all, Oroku Saki…" he spoke slowly, "…but something much worse comes for you. For when you die, it will be..."

Before Splinter could finish, Shredder, in a desperate attempt to kill the mutant rat, swiped his blades at his face. Splinter narrowly dodged, but received a cut on the cheek.

Before Shredder could do any more damage, Karai threw a kunai knife at the ladder. It sailed through the air and hit the loose screw that held the ladder in place.

The ladder came loose and Shredder fell.

They all watched as he fell down, down before landing hard in a garbage truck and finally losing consciousness as his wounds became far too great.

"…without honour." Splinter finished, holding his injured cheek whilst staring down at the comatose form of his defeated enemy.

"Oops." Karai smirked.

"Alright! They did it!" Casey cheered, punching his fist into the air. April rejoiced also, jumping up and down along with Casey and cheering for her turtle family. And before long, the streets were filled with the sound of cheering from everyone, even the delinquents that had once followed the Shredder.

The battle was finally over. The Turtle Clan were victorious.

Splinter looked down upon the scene below him, a warm smile reaching his lips at the sight. With The Shredder finally defeated, he believed the many young ones who had once felt they did not belong could finally find a place in this world for themselves.

He raised his head to the sky, to the starry heavens above.

_"Tang Shen...Miwa...'_ he thought, hoping his beloved above could hear him, _'I hope that now, your souls may rest in peace...now that our sons have defeated our greatest enemy..."_

Speaking of which...

...

_**"FATHER!"**_

_**.**_

Splinter was very nearly knocked off roof as his turtles launched themselves at him and embraced him tightly, despite their terrible wounds. He looked down at his sons as they latched onto him and cried into his chest and shoulders.

"You're alive! God, you're okay!" Leonardo cried into his chest, clutching his robes tightly in his fists.

"Thank god you're alright! We thought we'd never see you again!" wailed Donatello, wrapping his arms tightly around his shoulders.

"I'm so sorry father! It was all my fault that this happened, I'm so sorry!" Raphael wept, embracing him around his waist.

"Don't leave us ever again, dad! We still need you!" Michelangelo sobbed, hugging him around his waist as Raphael was, but with more desperation in his embrace.

Hearing his sons crying for him and begging for him to stay with them brought tears to his eyes as he smiled down at them. Only less than a week ago had he told himself that they were ready to leave their sewer home and choose their paths on their own. However, as he gazed down at them now as they wailed and sobbed into him, he fully realized just how much they would long for him if they were to leave, how much they would need him when they were lost and were in need of guidance…

…and how much they still desperately loved their father.

They all gazed up at him with tears streaming down their faces, their eyes wide and pleading to their father, taking him back all those years ago when they were still very young…

He wrapped his arms around them all in a loving embrace. "Do not fear, my sons. I am just relieved that you are all alive and safe" he said softly, "and I am so proud of you all. As your teacher, I am proud to call you my students…as a father, I am more than proud to call you my sons."

The turtles grasped their father tighter, more tears dripping down their cheeks.

"I love you all, my boys." Splinter smiled.

"We love you too, dad." Leonardo muffled into his chest.

* * *

April, Casey and Karai watched the family on the rooftops as everyone cheered around them. April covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes overflowing uncontrollably with tears.

Casey began to tear up also, but tried very hard to hold them back; he was a man! Men don't cry!

Karai could not hold back her own tears as she smiled up at scene above her.

"They're finally together again," April whispered "after all the pain, the suffering, and the fighting, they're finally whole again…"

Just then, police cars began to fill the streets, their sirens blaring in the night. With all the commotion, it was only natural that the police would arrive to investigate. Dozens of policemen stepped out of their cars, going up to several young individuals for questioning.

April felt a pang of sympathy; some of these kids would probably go to jail for what they had done, even if they had changed sides at the last minute.

Suddenly, three familiar figures stepped out of one of the police cars. It was Danny's father…and her aunt and her father.

"April?!" they called out over the noise of the crowd.

"AUNT ROBYN! DAD!" she cried as she pushed past the flood of teenagers and policemen. She finally reached and embraced them with all the force she could muster, unable to stop the tears flowing as she buried her face into her fathers' chest.

"Oh my god, April, where have you been?!" Kirby exclaimed as he held his daughter, "I got a call from the police and they told me what happened to your Aunts' apartment and her shop. We got no phone calls not even a text! We thought you were dead! But I got a tip off from the police a few hours ago that a security camera caught you near a shop near that abandoned church before it blew up and - oh god, April, thank goodness you're safe!"

"I'm so sorry, daddy!" April cried, "I'm so sorry and I love you both so much!"

In the corner of her teary eye, she caught sight of Danny reuniting with his father, hugging him tightly and could hear him apologizing over and over again for what he did and where he's been.

She smiled. She knew he would come around eventually.

"_APRIL!_"

She felt someone run and hug her from behind, squeezing the air out of her. She turned as much as she could and saw that it was Irma. She had come along with the police too?

"April! You're alive! Are you okay?! I insited the police and your dad that i could come with them to see if you were here! And you _are!_" she exclaimed frantically, "Where have you been? Why are you so dirty? What's going on here? Why are you crying?! Did someone die?! _What happened_?!"

April laughed as she hugged back her crying friend. "I'm fine, Irma. I'm perfectly fine..."

"But now you have some serious explaining to do, young lady" her aunt cut in firmly. "Where have you been this past week with no phone calls, no texts, not even a letter to tell us what had happened?!"

April stared at them all nervously. There was no way they were going to believe that she had helped four talking mutant turtles who do ninjitsu that are trained by a giant rat to fight an army of ninjas and a crazed villain who was named after a kitchen utensil…

Now that she really thought about it, she couldn't quite believe it herself.

But there was no other way to explain such an adventure she had just been on without revealing the turtles to them. She had promised to keep them a secret.

"Well," she tried futilely, "um, the thing is, y'see - "

Casey was suddenly beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and smiling kindly at her father. "Hi there, my name's Casey Jones, I'm a friend of April's, it's nice to meet you sir," he said casually, sticking out his hand to shake Kirby's, who hesitantly took it whilst casting April a questioning gaze.

April slapped a hand over her face, realizing what this must look like to her father. "Oh my god…Casey!" she wailed as a deep red blush covered her cheeks.

"Relax, sweetheart. I know what I'm doing," he whispered into her ear, "there's no lying about it now, so let's just get it over with."

Before April could protest (and ask him why he called her sweetheart) Casey looked back to her father and aunt and smiled politely. "I think I can help explain everything. If you'll please just follow me."

* * *

"We were awesome!" cried Michelangelo as the turtles gathered around each other in celebration. They were still very injured, and Raphael had to support Leonardo due to his stab wound, but that did not prevent them from rejoicing over their first ever major victory.

"Bodacious!" Leonardo exclaimed with a laugh.

"Gnarly!" Donatello laughed.

"'_Gnarly'_, Donnie? Really? Where'd you get that from, the 'Lame Quip from The Hippies' store?" Raphael smirked sarcastically, earning a pout from his taller brother.

"How about, 'Wicked'?!" Leo suggested, shrugging as much as he was able to with his injured shoulder.

"Banging!" Mikey crowed.

Splinter abruptly cleared his throat, silencing the banter from the turtles as they glanced up at him.

"If I were to choose, I must say I actually liked…" he stroked his beard as the turtles watched him in curiosity.

"…Booyakasha!"

The turtles glanced at each other. They grinned widely.

"_**BOOYAKASHA!**_" they yelled in unison, laughing as they raised their hands in the air for another 'high-three'.

"I made a funny!" Splinter chuckled.

"Wait, what does that even mean?" Raph asked as they all turned to Mikey, who simply shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"I dunno…It just suddenly came to me…But it's fun to yell!"

They all laughed once more as they came together for another loving group hug. Their family was finally happy and whole again. With The Shredder and The Foot finally defeated, the city was safe once more from his malevolent ways, and now, so was their family.

Nothing could take that away from them now.

"Oh…my…_**god**__…!_" exclaimed a voice from the other side of the roof.

All heads turned to see April, Casey, Karai, and three other humans they had never seen before stood on the roof, watching nonplussed as the mutant family reunited.

Three of the humans, whom they could only assume to be April's friend and family, stood stock-still and completely dumbfounded at the sight before them. Next to them, April shrugged shyly in apology.

The mutants exchanged glances. They turned back to the humans and smiled and waved awkwardly.

"Ummm…what up, dudes?" Michelangelo laughed uncomfortably with a small wave.

Leonardo sighed heavily.

This was going to take a while...

* * *

**A/N: Well, dear readers, we are almost at the end of our tale. **

**Seriously, I nearly cried whilst writing the ending, both of feels and of laughter. Casey you player! **

**I'm a Apriltello shipper, but Capril is cute and is starting to grow on me!**

**I OWN NOTHING!**

**Let's continue onto our last chapter folks...**


	22. Chapter 22: Every Heart Needs A Home

**Chapter 22 (Finale): **  
**Every Heart Needs a Home**

After the defeat of The Shredder and The Foot clan, life went back to normal in the streets of New York…

…well, kind of.

After April's long and rather complicated explanation of what the uncanny adventure over the past week had been, and after introducing her aunt, father and best friends to the turtle family, she was finally allowed to frequently visit the brothers whenever she wanted. Casey was a regular visitor as well, since he and Raphael had formed a strong (yet somewhat violent) relationship.

Karai visited also, but was occupied with the searching of The Shredder after his mysterious disappearance after his defeat. He had simply vanished from the garbage truck after the authorities arrived, and he had not been seen or heard of since. After handing Baxter Stockman to the police, they had also discovered that Bradford and over a dozen other Foot ninjas had disappeared along with him.

If The Shredder was still out there, he could still be very much a threat to the turtles and the city. But after everything that had happened, the turtles and now Karai herself were determined to make sure that he never touched the family or the city again.

Besides, she had taken a liking to a certain leader in blue…

Of course, before anyone could finally settle down, everyone needed to have their wounds treated, and the lair needed to be repaired after the entire M.O.U.S.E.R.S ordeal.

Whilst Donatello attended to the electricity and gaming devices as well as the broken T.V, the rest of the family, along with April, Casey, Karai and now another human friend, Irma, (who was completely fascinated by the concept of mutant turtles living in the sewers and was very quick in becoming their friend) attended to the dilemma of cleaning out the lair, getting rid of chewed furniture or any spare ripped wires or anything they no longer needed.

Unfortunately, many things needed to be replaced, such as the fridge; it was almost revolting to remove the food that had gone bad.

And equally unfortunately, it was left to Raphael and April to carry out the task.

For the next few days, the turtles were quite clingy to Master Splinter, fearing if they turned away for too long, he would be gone again.

But he reassured them that he would not be going anywhere for a long time.

He knew they still needed him, every bit as much as he needed them.

Soon enough, the lair was back to its original 'glory'. Donatello had even added a newly fixed and updated PS3 to the TV, which delighted the boys (especially Michelangelo) to no end.

Leonardo's injury began to heal just fine, as did the rest of the brothers injuries, but he was advised especially by Donatello to take it easy for the next few days just to be safe.

But he was Leonardo. He would take that as a challenge if anything.

Splinter had also agreed to let Mikey and Raph keep their new non-mutant companions as pets, if they promised to feed and clean up after them…

…and if Mikey promised to stop letting the cat gnaw on his so-called 'delicious' tail.

* * *

Later one day, Splinter called his four pupils into the dojo. As he gazed upon their seated forms (still covered in bandages and two of them still limping from their wounds), he cleared his throat and began.

"I have already told you how proud I am of all of you" he spoke, regarding each of his sons warmly. "The events of the past few days had not only tested your individual skills, or the ability to endure even the most difficult of physical as well mental or emotional challenges, but it was a lesson in teamwork.

"The moment you four worked together to call me to you in spirit form that night before your return, was the moment in which you all realized; no matter how smart, strong, tactical or gifted, each of you are vulnerable on your own, but together you can be an unmovable object, or an unstoppable force."

The brothers glanced at each other, smiling with pride at their father's words. Leonardo looked up to his sensei. "So, Sensei," he asked, "does this mean you're saying we're officially ninjas?"

Splinter stroked his beard in thought for a moment. He opened his eyes and smiled down at his sons.

"Yes."

The turtles gasped collectively in delight, large toothy grins spreading across their faces.

"And no."

He could just hear the record scratch as the boys groaned and sighed heavily in rejection. "I've said it once, and i'll say it again," Raphael mumbled, "I freaking_ hate it_ when he does that!"

Despite his second son's unkind choce of words, Splinter chuckled. "You boys continue to make me proud. But a true ninja never stops training. Even if you have just defeated a great enemy. "

"To be perfectly honest," Leonardo spoke frankly, "I wouldn't have it any other way, Sensei."

Splinter gazed down at his eldest son in surprise.

"Yeah, me too." Raphael chuckled.

"Same here!" declared Donatello.

"And me!" Michelangelo exclaimed, raising his hand in the air for no reason in particular.

Leonardo chuckled at his youngest brothers' eager display, then turned back to look up at his Sensei. "We may be pretty good ninjas now, but like you said before Sensei, we are still nowhere near perfect, nor are we fully ready to go out there alone. I mean, come on, we're only fifteen!"

"Yeah, but we totally kicked Shredder's ass – uh, I-I mean _butt_. Sorry Sensei."

"That may be true, Raph, but if Sensei hadn't been there, It would have been our asses – _**Shells**_, sorry, _shells_ – that would have been kicked. Or worse than that…"

"I think Leo's right," Donatello mused, "we could've died that night if it weren't for Master Splinter. Or even Mikey, though I never thought I'd actually ever say that out loud," he paused to rub Mikey's head affectionately. "And if Shredder's still out there, and if any new crazy crime lords come out, we defiantly need to be ready, and we still need to train."

"Yeah, dudes!" Michelangelo piped in enthusiastically, "We've gotta keep goin' if we're gonna be as good as Splinter…! Not that…that would ever happen, I mean…Splinter's, like, the best! Right?" he rubbed the back of his head nervously. His brothers smirked collectively at his sudden bashfulness.

Splinter chuckled at his sons. "I hoped you would all say that. If you are to become the true powerful ninjas you are destined to be, you must continue with your training. In that, also, you must never lapse. Now, that is all for today. We will resume training as normal once you have all properly healed. Understood?"

The turtles stood up in unison and bowed to their Sensei. "_Hai Sensei, warewarewo rikai shimasu_" they spoke in harmony. Splinter nodded in approval and turned to return to his room.

He was stopped suddenly when he felt all four boys run and hug him from behind, burying their faces into his back. He felt the wind get knocked out of him, before chuckling warmly, patting his sons' hands affectionately. "I have already told you boys," he chortled, "I am not going anywhere."

"We know," said Leonardo, a content smile appearing on his face, "we just wanted to make sure, that's all."

"It's good to have you back, Sensei," Raph said.

"Same here," Donnie agreed.

"Yeah," Mikey sighed contentedly, "me too."

Splinter chuckled again. "Thank you. It is good to be back."

* * *

Raphael walked out of the kitchen later that night after feeding Spike, stretching his limbs and yawning tiredly. As he walked past the living room, He saw Mikey and Donnie engaging themselves in a 'Just Dance 3' tournament, to which Mikey was predictably winning by a landslide.

He looked at the time and frowned in confusion. 'Space Heroes' would be on by now (which disgusted Raph that he would even know such a thing), so where was Leonardo?

"Hey," he called to the 'Dancing-Dorks' in the pit, "where's Leo?"

"Dunno!" shouted Mikey, never averting his eyes from the screen as he danced against Donnie, "haven't seen him since dinner! Which I might add was totally wicked! Jellybean, Anchovy and Jalapeño pizza for the win!"

Raph stared blankly at his crazy younger brother, and was about to shrug it off when he felt something soft rush against his foot. He looked down and saw that it was the cat, Klunk, purring and rubbing her head against his ankle, trying to get his attention. She looked up at him with her large emerald green eyes and mewed.

"If you're hungry, don't look at me, kitty," he said point-blankly, "I'm not your master."

However, Klunk began to tug on the bandages on his foot, as if to tell him to follow her. He sighed and rolled his eyes. This cat was weird; Mikey even told him how she had somehow _told_ him to smile when he was down back at the farm, and that she could understand everything he was saying. It was if this cat was psychic or something. Of course, Raph had never believed him, but now he was starting to…

He reluctantly followed the cat through the living room as it led him to Leonardo's bedroom door.

Oh, so this is what she meant.

He looked down at her as she simply stared at him, as if to tell him:

_'Go inside.'_

He felt a chill go down his spine.

That cat was seriously creepy.

Raph quietly slid his brothers' door open to find him sat on his bed with his shell to him, hunched over something. The bandages were still wrapped around his shoulder from his stab wound, but everything else was healing up nicely. He still looked like trash, but then again, so did the rest of them.

"Whatcha up to, fearless?" he called from the doorway, watching with a smirk as Leo jumped, slightly startled from Raph's sudden entrance. He had not even heard him come in.

Some ninja.

Leo turned and smiled at Raph. He saw that he had a tube of Donnie's strongest glue in his hands. What was he trying to do, glue his wounds back together so he could train more?

"Hey Raph" Leo greeted, "nothing much, just working on something I got from the antique shop before it got...y'know."

"Yeah," Raph replied nonchalantly, moving over to Leo's bed to sit next to him, "I heard Casey and his uncles' building business are helping them get it back together. They're gonna make a new bakery instead or something like that. 'O'Neil's Bakery'! That sounds great" he laughed sarcastically.

Leo could not help but agree as he laughed along. "Yeah. So, you wanna see what I did?"

Raph shrugged as Leo turned himself around so Raph could see what he had. "What is it? Some kind of 'Space Heroes' mini figure or some–"

Raph stopped short as Leo held up the small object. His eyes grew wide.

It was a mini statue of a family of turtles that Leo had found just before The Foot had attacked. The stray turtle had been glued back on with the rest of the turtle family, and the shells had been painted red, blue orange and purple, all huddled around a vibrant yellow flower. The blue turtle sat next to the newly glued red one.

"I saw it the store and this one looked like it was breaking off from the rest of the family" Leo spoke softly, looking at the statue fondly, "It kind of reminded me of what was happening to us at the time. I kept it so that, maybe, if we fixed everything between us after all this, then I could fix it and...y'know..." Leo shrugged with an awkward smile and looked up at Raph.

His eyes grew wide with disbelief.

Raph held the biggest smile he had ever seen on the red clad turtle. Tears filled his eyes, but he tried to hide them with a smug smirk. He failed miserably.

He suddenly pulled Leo into tight brotherly hug, wrapping an arm tight around his neck in an affectionate headlock "You...you're such a dork. Y'know that, right?" Raph sniffed with a watery laugh.

Leo chuckled as he returned his brothers' hug with a strong loving one of his own. "I love you too, little brother."

"Dudes, you've gotta stop being so adorable! You're gonna make me cry again!"

Both heads turned sharply to the doorway to find Mikey, now torn away from his game, stood with a large freckled grin on his face, his eyes brimming with 'happy tears'. Leo and Raph stared at each other in disgust before pushing away from one another, folding their arms with blushes on their faces.

Mikey laughed as he vaulted over to his older brothers, jumping onto the bed and wrapping his arms around the two of them in a crushing embrace.

"Share the love, ma brothas! Share the love I tell you!" he laughed.

Leo and Raph rolled their eyes, but hugged him back nonetheless.

That was the moment Donnie walked in and saw the turtle trio hugging. He gasped in mock offence. "Hey! What, am I too much of a geek to join a turtle group hug?!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah! You'll infect us with your dorkiness if you get too close!" Raph snickered. Donnie rolled his eyes with a laugh, before running over to the bed and joining the large group hug, wrapping his arms around Leo and Mikey.

They sat there in silent content, simply enjoying the warmness of the embrace.

"We have the best family…" Mikey whispered.

Leo looked down at the small statue still in his three fingered hand.

"Yeah...we do."

Outside of Leonardo's room, as the boys suddenly engaged into a 'friendly' wrestling match after Mikey blurted out a comment about Raph becoming too soft, Splinter stood and watched the boys play together.

"It would seem that our wounds have finally healed..." he said to himself.

He looked down at the orange cat that licked its paws and stared up at the large mutant rat.

"That will do, Klunk…that will do."

* * *

"I'm glad your aunt's apartment's looking better, April," Casey said as they walked down the darkened streets together, just after they had paid a visit to Karai in her new apartment. She seemed to be doing just fine; Shredder had had a lot of money stashed away, and decided to put it to _legal_ use and rent her own apartment until she could find better accommodations. She was confident that she would be fine on her own, and determined to find The Shredder and put him to justice.

April smiled up at him gratefully. "Yeah, the apartment _and_ the new bakery are looking great. Thanks to you. In fact, I have a lot to thank you for, Casey. For everything…"

Casey held up his hands with a gapped toothed grin. "Hey, it's no big deal. All I did was save you from a burning building, beat up a bunch of ninjas, help a ninja lady beat up a big muscle man, get Splinter back to the turtles – "

"– Casey, don't milk it."

"– right. Sorry."

April giggled at the black haired vigilante. She suddenly remembered something. "Oh, hold on a second, I've got something for you" she said, unslinging her bag off her shoulders and digging into it.

Casey glanced at her curiously as the upper half of her body disappeared into the yellow bag. What the heck was she doing?

April finally emerged from the yellow cave with a triumphant "Ah ha!" as she stood up and presented a object wrapping brown paper to him. She smiled as she handed the parcel to him.

He gazed down at it curiously. "This is for me?"

April nodded wordlessly. "Come on, open it up!"

With a grin, Casey tore of the paper…and immediately froze.

"…You…you got me a new metal hockey mask?" he breathed. The mask was similar in design to the older one, having the same shape and skull-like face, but it was painted silver and was much firmer and heavier, being made out of solid metal.

April nodded again. "I heard your mask got broken after a fight with that big guy, so as a way to thank you for everything…I bought this for you. It was a little pricey, but I knew you would love it…you do, right?"

Without a word, Casey rushed up to her and wrapped his arms around her. April grunted from the sudden force, but stood stock still with a blush forming across her face as the boy embraced her.

He drew away with the biggest grin she had ever seen on his face. "Of course! I love it! You rock, April!" he cheered.

April laughed. "I'm glad. Now come on, let's go see how the guys are doing."

As they walked side by side, April wordlessly reached her hand out and wrapped her fingers around Casey's. The boy immediately tightened his grip.

"_Goongala!_" Casey cried in victory, sliding his new mask over his face as they began to run down the street together hand in hand. April laughed once more.

As they ran together, a man in a black suit and emotionless face watched them, hidden in an alleyway. His eyes never left the red headed girl as he took out a strange looking communication device.

"The one that is known as 'The One' has been detected." He said, his voice never leaving its monotone.

"Good. The one known as 'The One' will prove useful in the plan that is the plan of Kraang..."

* * *

If one were to be walking down the busy streets of New York that night, they would have heard loud exclamations of joy coming from the rooftops, getting softer as the owners of the shouts leapt from building to building. If one were to hear these shouts, they would simply think they came from a couple of teenagers fooling around in peoples' houses.

They would be half right in their assumption, however, these were no ordinary teenagers. In fact, if they were to ever look up, they would realize that they were not even human.

These shouts and cries of joy came from four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The Turtles patrolled the night, leaping over buildings and weaving in and out of the shadows, scouting out for any danger or signs of The Shredder, who was bound to be lurking somewhere in the shadows of this vast city. They did not know where to start, or how they would do it, but no matter what, they would make sure that The Shredder would be found, and they would put a stop to his criminal devices.

The Shredder was never going to harm their city again.

.

_"Me and my bros have been through a lot in the past few weeks, but we didn't change...we didn't give up..."_

_..._

"…_I may have not been able to fix the problem by myself, but together, we were able to do so much more than that..."_

_..._

_"…We learned how to rely on each other, work together, as a team. Never isolate yourself from the ones you love and need the most..."_

_..._

_"...because no matter how strong, gifted, tactical or intelligent we are, only as one can we truly triumph, become an unstoppable force...we will always be ninjas, we will always fight against evil, for justice, together as a team..."_

_..._

_"...and we will always be brothers."_

_..._

They launched themselves off another high building, the full moon outlining their glorious silhouettes.

.

_"GOD I LOVE BEING A TURTLE!_

_._

_**BOOYAKASHAAAA!"**_

_**.**_

_**FIN**_

* * *

**A/N: There you have it folks, the glorious end to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles THE MOVIE 2012 Version!...**

**...or is it?**

**I'm actually working on Secret of The Ooze right now, so that will be up soon. All these chapters are on DeviantArt as well, so go check it out!**

**The title of this song was based off one of the songs in the soundtrack, 'Every Heart Needs A Home'. It's a beautiful song, o go check it out!**

**I OWN NOTHING.**

**I hope you all enjoyed it, and I hope too see you guys in the sequal! Thank you to all those who have taken the time to read this, and this is Sesshomarusama3 signing out with:**

**BOOYAKASHA!**


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